Cold as Ice
by Mandi2341
Summary: Percy Jackson was hoping for a peaceful summer after the Second Titan War. But the problem is, he's been cursed by his teacher and becomes seriously ill. Why? Because there's someone out there that's afraid of what he'll do in the future, and that someone wants him dead. Who's the wolf in sheep's clothing?
1. I Get in Trouble at School Again

**Author's Note: Hey! I previously had a story like this, but I took it down. Now I'm starting over, cleaning it up a little bit and giving it a better plot. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 1: I Get in Trouble at School (Again)**

"Last day of school!" I shouted as I walked into my classroom. I'd actually gotten through my second year at Goode High School, and that was a first for me, since I'd never made it anywhere without being kicked out. And the best part was, that afternoon I'd be off to my favorite place in the world, the only safe place in the world for a Son of Poseidon like me—Camp Half-Blood. I was ecstatic.

Unfortunately, teachers never seem as happy as the students on the last day of school, which I don't understand because most jobs don't take entire summers off. Go figure, but my homeroom teacher, Mr. Price, glared at me icily. "Jackson, this will not be _your _last day of school if you don't sit in your seat right now. And fix your uniform," he added.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I straightened my uniform. Mr. Price seemed to have had it in for me all year. My gut feeling was: monster. But when I thought about it, he'd never given me a reason to think he was a monster. If he'd wanted to have me for lunch, he would've done it already. At least, he would've tried. Last summer, before fighting the Titan Lord Kronos, I'd bathed in the River Styx and gained the invulnerability of Achilles. So I thought I was okay, unless they touched my weak spot.

My mind was all over the place until I felt Mr. Price's cold glare on me again. "Jackson!" he hissed.

"Yes?"

"Can you join us down here on Earth for two seconds?"

Suddenly the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, even though it was the middle of June. I felt goose bumps on my arms. "Yes, sir."

"That's better," he said.

I took a deep breath, opening my notebook. I smiled when I saw the picture Chiron had taken of Annabeth and me last summer. We were arm-in-arm, grinning from ear-to-ear in our camp T-shirts and necklaces. Annabeth's hair was pulled back in a perfect ponytail, her gray eyes shining. I really did miss her. Even though she was going to school in New York this year, she was at a boarding school, so I still didn't really get to see her much. But this year at camp, it was going to be great: no Titans, no traitors, no wars, and no prophecies. I couldn't wait.

"Jackson!"

I jumped. Then I realized that I had been staring into space.

"You care to share what you were thinking about just now, since it wasn't my class?" he asked. Maybe it was the light, but I could swear that his eyes turned a really icy shade of blue. "Well?" he prompted when I didn't answer.

I glared back at him. One thing I hate about ADHD is the fact that I can't keep my mouth shut. "Why do my thoughts matter so much to you?" I asked, unable to keep my annoyance out of my voice.

"You'd better watch your temper, Mr. Jackson," he shot back.

"Or what?" I asked. "You're going to give me detention?"

Stupid question, I know. But hey, again, you can blame my ADHD.

My teacher looked amused, like he's waited the entire school year for me to slip up, and I'd finally given him the opportunity to torture me. "Very good idea, Jackson," he whispered, and the temperature dropped another ten degrees. I could see my breath fogging up. "See me right here after school and we'll discuss your…_punishment_."

Something in his voice made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I got the feeling that his "punishment" was going to be much worse than I could possibly imagine.

The bell rang. Everyone gathered up their stuff and left the classroom. As I walked past the teacher's desk, I felt colder than ever inside.

Classes moved slowly for the rest of the day. It was as if time itself was too lazy to keep going. Either that or time was mocking me, dragging out my classes so the day would never end.

Dang, life sure sucks sometimes.

I sat in art class, working on the finishing touches of my painting, when a girl with silvery-blond hair and blue eyes walked in. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, and she had a slip of paper in her hand. "Excuse me?" she said.

My art teacher replied, "Yes? What is your name, miss?"

"Avery Cypes," the girl replied. "I have a message from Mr. Price for a Perseus Jackson." My eyes widened. My cheeks burned. My heart skipped about three beats. How in Tartarus did Mr. Price know my name? I was suspicious before, but now I was really starting to worry. Only those who knew my true identity knew my real name. That gave me definite reasons to freak out, but I tried to keep my cool.

The class snickered when they heard my name. The girl who'd called herself Avery scanned the room, and her eyes settled on me. "Ah, there you are, Perseus," she said, handing me the slip of paper.

"It's Percy," I corrected her.

"Okay, Percy," she agreed. Her eyes seemed to linger on my face for longer than I would've expected, but then she just smiled and left, turning back just once to look at me again, almost like she recognized me. Which was crazy, because there was no way I'd ever met anyone named Avery Cypes.

Holding the detention slip in my fingers, I realized that they were still covered in acrylic paint. I excused myself to the restroom.

While I was trying to get the paint off, my girlfriend Annabeth's face appeared in front of me. "Percy?" she called.

I jumped about twenty feet in the air. When I steadied my breathing, I realized she was an Iris-message. "Annabeth?" I stammered. "Um…could I get back to you? I'm kind of in the restroom."

Her cheeks turned pink. "You look like your washing your hands, Seaweed Brain," she replied. "And besides, this is super important. Are you alone?"

I frowned. "Yeah, but I might not be for long. Why? What's wrong? Where are you?"

"One question at a time," she told me. Then her face turned deadly serious. "Percy, there's something wrong at camp."

My heart sank. There goes my carefree summer break. "Like what?"

"I don't know," she said, frustrated. I knew that had to be Annabeth's least favorite sentence in the entire world. "But Chiron contacted me this morning and told me to come to camp as soon as possible, and to tell you the same thing."

I sighed, pulling a paper towel to dry my hands. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to camp 'as soon as possible'," I admitted. I explained to her how I got detention.

When I finished, Annabeth looked ready to smack me. "What's the matter with you, Percy? Who gets detention on the last day of school, anyway? I mean, come on now!"

"I'm sorry," I said defensively.

Suddenly Annabeth's gray eyes lit up, like she'd gotten an idea. "I've got it!" she said. "I'll come get you. Be ready at the end of the day, and I'll come pick you up."

"But how—"

"Just be ready to go, Seaweed Brain," she said. "And don't forget," she added. "There are a bunch of new demigods waiting to be claimed, remember?"

I smiled. I remembered my wish to the gods last summer when I made them swear on the River Styx to claim all their demigod children by age thirteen. "How could I forget? I made that rule up, Wise Girl."

I gave me a grudging half-smile. "See you later, Percy. Love you."

"Love you, too." I waved away the image as another guy walked in, and I left, trying not to look like anything weird had just happened. Just another normal day as a demigod.

The end of the day came quicker than I expected. As I stopped by my locker for the last time, I saw Paul Blofis, my stepdad and English teacher.

"Percy?" He walked over to me. When he saw my face, he frowned. "What's wrong? You look down."

I was reluctant to say anything at all. But then again, Paul was a pretty cool mortal. Last summer he took down a bunch of monsters with a bronze sword, and then was completely humble about it. He knew I was the son of Poseidon. He's seen me in action. I trusted him. So I explained everything: how Mr. Price had given me detention, how the camp was in danger, and how Annabeth was planning to come get me.

When I was done, Paul nodded. "Well, you shouldn't have gotten detention," he started, "but I think you need to get to camp. Come into my classroom."


	2. My Stepdad Makes Me an Escape Plan

**Author's Note: Chapter 2! Umm…I know some of you reading the story have read the original before and are finding some differences. And yes, there are some differences. For example, I'm taking out Sammy, the son of Zeus, because he was such a powerful demigod, but I didn't know what to do with him. So, yeah, he's not there anymore. Also, if you **_**do**_** remember the story, NO SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T! Thanks to all my Story Alert people! You rock!**

**Oh yeah, I forgot this in the first chapter and I don't want to get in trouble, so…I DON'T OWN PJO BECAUSE I'M NOT RICK RIORDAN. Though I wish I'd had the genius to come with the idea…**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: My stepfather makes us an escape plan

I took a seat at the back of the classroom. I wondered when Annabeth would be coming to get me, and I wondered why it was so urgent that we come to camp. I'd seriously been hoping for some peace after the Titan War last year. We'd lost so many people: Silena Beauregard and her boyfriend, Charles Beckendorf; Mr. D's son, Castor; Zoë Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo; and most importantly, Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes that had sacrificed himself to save the world from the Titan Lord Kronos. There were so many losses it was painful to think about. The last thing I wanted was to lose more of my friends.

As I was lost in thought, Paul walked over to me. "Percy?" he called.

I stood up.

"Listen to me," he said. "I'm going to try my best to get you to camp. But you have to be extremely careful and do exactly what I tell you. Understand?"

I couldn't help grinning. "Thanks so much, Paul," I told him. My stepfather nodded and told me his escape plan.

* * *

><p>When he was finished explaining, we went into action. I slipped outside the classroom, waiting for Paul's signal. He winked at me, and I left the classroom as quietly as I could. Mr. Price's footsteps resounded in the empty halls, so I slipped quietly into the boys' restroom. Opening the door just enough for me to see what was happening, I leaned toward the door and listened very carefully.<p>

"Paul?" Mr. Price called. Paul came out of his classroom.

"Paul, have you seen Percy Jackson anywhere? They were supposed to come to my room for detention this afternoon."

"Sorry, I haven't seen him since lunch time," Paul answered. Then Mr. Price said something unintelligible and came toward the restroom. My heart started to pound. If he came in and found me, who knows what would happen? I backed away from the door and scurried into the last stall and climbed onto a toilet to see over the stall walls. My teacher entered and searched each stall before mine. I was positive that he could hear my heart hammering against my ribs, because I could. I pressed my hands against my chest, as if that would muffle the sound. If he found me, bad things would happen, I could sense it. I prayed that he wouldn't find me. When I thought I would start to hyperventilate, Mr. Price seemed to have just remembered something, and exited. I let out a huge sigh of relief and unlocked the stall door. Everything seemed to be okay, so I walked stealthily out of the restroom.

Paul set out, walking down the hallway. I had to keep back so after Paul exited, I could keep a low profile and quickly catch up to him; not too far back though, because if I lagged behind, Paul wouldn't be able to help me if Mr. Price caught me. I was WAY too far behind and was trying to catch up. Paul opened the door and held it open for me. I wanted to sprint and yell, "Wait up!" but that would make way too much noise. If I wanted to get out of this building inconspicuously, I would have to be as quiet as I could be. So I nodded to him, letting him know that I would catch up and that he could let the door close.

I was almost to the door, my fingers barely touching the cool silver steel of the handle. All of a sudden I heard a hissing noise and felt cold air on my neck, like someone intentionally breathing on me. Then came an icy voice, "Perseus Jackson."

My teacher was right behind me. I hadn't escaped.

"You cannot escape…" he drawled. I tried to close my hand around the door handle and make my run out of here, but I couldn't move. I was frozen…literally. The air seemed to chill around me, swirling around me and entering my mouth and nose and finally making its way into heart and lungs. Suddenly, I felt this terrible stinging pain in my chest. I took a sharp breath.

"What—what are you doing?" I gasped.

"Getting rid of you, Jackson," he replied. "You might cause us some problems in the near future, and we need you out of the picture before you do."

I coughed, trying to clear my throat, but I couldn't somehow. "What are you talking about? What have I done? And who's 'us'?"

"You need not worry about who we are, young Perseus," he replied.

The icy mist seemed to be coming from his mouth, sort of like the way you can see your breath in the cold air. But it was June. It wasn't cold outside, though the temperature was definitely dropping in the hallway. And even more, inside me. I felt like my lungs were burning with cold.

"You shall bear my curse, Son of Poseidon," he said. "Your blood shall turn to ice, and the sea shall freeze over. You will suffer terribly, and die a slow, painful death."

What was this guy trying to do to me? The pain was terrible. It was the kind of horrific, heart-wrenching agony that would drive someone insane, maybe even suicidal. I let out a cry of pain. It felt like an icy hand had a grip on my lungs and was trying to squeeze all of the oxygen out of me. Pretty soon, I couldn't breathe. I collapsed to my knees, groaning. But I managed to say, "You're crazy. Poseidon rules the sea. He'll never let you get away with freezing it."

"Poseidon is only one god, you foolish boy. Against all of us, even he doesn't stand a chance. And neither do you."

I felt like I was drowning, suffocating, and I was too weak and out of breath to say anymore. Sharp pains ripped through my lungs, like they were being torn to pieces. Barely above a whisper, I croaked, "Stop…please…" I'd never, ever, EVER been through that much torture before; not even during the time I had to hold the sky on my shoulders, or even the time I had lava thrown at me at the bottom of a volcano. Bathing in the River Styx was a bubble bath compared to this torture. As I sank to the ground, my vision swam around and around like a goldfish in a whirlpool. My surroundings blended together. Before I lost consciousness, I heard footsteps like someone was running, and Mr. Price growled and said, "You may have won this battle, Son of Poseidon, but will NOT win the war."

* * *

><p><em>I was at Camp Half-Blood. It looked pretty much the same, except for one thing: the beach of Long Island Sound. Where sand should've been, there was snow, and there were no waves crashing to the shore. A chilly fog settled itself upon the water…the frozen water.<em>

_The sea was frozen._

_I felt cold and empty inside, and the sting in my chest returned. My dream-self clutched my chest. I was pretty sure my real self was moaning involuntarily._

_A young girl stood facing the ocean, her back turned to me. Her blond hair whipped around in the wind. "Perfect," she whispered. "The first step, done. He'll be even more vulnerable now that he doesn't have his precious ocean protecting him. And if step two is done, he'll be more vulnerable than ever, even with the curse of Achilles."_

_My heart skipped a beat when I realized who she was talking about._

_Me._

_A glint of silver caught the corner of my eye. I turned around and saw something sliver and shiny flying in the cold wind. I reached up to catch it. It was a shroud. A burial shroud form Athena's cabin. In the corner, two gold letters were sewn into the fabric: A.C._

_Annabeth Chase._

**By the way, you know the Thunderstorm story? Well, I don't really have a lot of idea's to continue with, so if you have any suggestions, please tell me! I'd love to do them for you!**

**As for this story, this was a slow, short chapter and I'm sorry for that. But more is coming. Like I've said so many times, I've already written it, I'm just changing some stuff. Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**~Mandi**


	3. I Almost Fall to My Death

**Author's Note: Wow…I'm actually updating this story again! I'm sorry; I know it's been a while. But I'm writing **_**Secrets and Sleepovers**_** at the same time. I can manage that. I figured out a way to do that: alternate. So, for those of you on author alert, the next update will be for **_**Secrets and Sleepovers**_**. I literally ignore the story I'm not about to update, so I focus on the one I **_**am**_** about to update. I get more done that way, and I don't get the plots confused.**

**Seriously, thank you so much for the love. I love you all too!**

Chapter 3: I (Almost) Fall to My Death

"Percy!"

A girl's voice seemed to come from far away. Someone was shaking me.

I woke from my dream slowly. My eyelashes parted gradually, and I saw Annabeth's face right above me, her expression changing from concern to relief when she saw me open my eyes. "Thank the gods you're alright," she sighed.

"I don't feel like it," I said in a choked voice, and I started coughing. Each cough resulted in a jabbing pain in my ribcage, like someone was thrusting a knife in my lungs. I tried to sit up, but my chest was throbbing. Annabeth gripped my hands and pulled me to my feet. I swayed on the spot, but Paul steadied me.

"What happened, Percy?" he asked. "I got outside and saw Annabeth. She asked where you were, and I thought you were right behind me, but when I looked back, you weren't there. We came back inside and—"

"—And found you unconscious on the floor, shivering like crazy," Annabeth finished, frowning. "What happened to you?"

"Mr. Price got me," I stammered through chattering teeth. I was freezing cold and shaking violently. I was pretty sure I was going to bite my tongue off if I opened my mouth again, but I managed to tell them about how I was almost to the exit when Mr. Price breathed on my neck, the icy mist, and what he'd said about freezing the sea. I left out the part about eliminating me, though. That had confused me a lot, and I wasn't really sure what he'd meant. I also left out my dream about the silver Athena shroud.

"Percy, you're still shivering," Annabeth said, placing a warm hand on my forehead, then the back of her hand on my left cheek. "You're a little warm, Percy," she whispered.

I waved dismissively. "How'd you get here?" I asked her. "What's going on at camp?"

"I took a taxi here," she answered, "though I don't think I'd be able to afford another one. I only have one drachma left." Her frown deepened. "As for what's going on at camp, I have no clue. Chiron just told me it was important that we get there right away. Got any transportation ideas?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I replied. I turned to Paul. "Will you tell my mom that—"

Paul nodded in understanding. "Taken care of," he assured me.

"Thanks," I said. I took Annabeth's hand and led her outside.

As soon as we were in the parking lot, I started to cough fitfully. My body was again racked with pain—not as bad as before, but pretty close. When I was able to breathe again, my throat stung fiercely.

Annabeth stared at me, her eyes full of worry. "You sure you're okay?" she asked.

I managed a half-smile. "Yeah," I said. My voice sounded terrible, like I was coming down with laryngitis or something. But I was able to give my best taxi-cab whistle. Two minutes later, a winged, black horse was landing on the pavement in front of us.

_Yo, boss!_ Blackjack said in my mind.

"Blackjack," I told him, "We need a ride to camp, quick."

He whinnied, shaking his dark mane. _Yeah, you do. Something freaky's going on over there, boss. _

I frowned. "What do you mean 'freaky'?"

_I can't explain it,_ he told me in my mind. _You just have to come see for yourself._

I looked over at Annabeth. She stared back with concern.

Sighing, I said, "We better go now."

* * *

><p>Blackjack soared over the city of Manhattan fast and high. Annabeth had her arms around my waist. As we got closer to Camp Half-Blood, I felt a change in the temperature. I was freezing cold; there were goose bumps on my arms. The wind whipped Annabeth's long curls forward into my face.<p>

Suddenly, it felt hard to breathe. All I could think about was how much it hurt to breathe. The cold air stung my throat badly, and I began to cough painfully again.

"Percy, you okay?" Annabeth asked.

I couldn't answer; I couldn't breathe. My eyes were squeezed shut from the pain. I felt that drowning feeling again, like it was impossible to get any air in my lungs. My head was spinning.

"Percy, hang in there! We're almost there!" Annabeth's voice seemed to come from a thousand miles away. But I could see the ocean, some of the cabins, the central green.

Then, something stranger occurred. A young woman's face seemed to take shape in the dark clouds over the sea. It wasn't a face I recognized. I squinted to see it more clearly.

_That's right, Perseus Jackson. _The cloud-face was talking to me. _Come. Soon you'll be destroyed. And I will finally have my eternal winter. There will be nothing you can do about it._

My eyes widened. I leaned back to Annabeth and yelled over the wind, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" she yelled back.

"That face in the clouds."

"Are you sure you weren't imagining it, Percy?" she asked.

"No! I swear it's right—" But when I looked back, the face was gone. In its place was a swirling mass of dark clouds.

Blackjack started to descend. There was a fog hanging low over the beach at camp. But something seemed different. The sand was whiter than usual. The sea was grayer than usual. And the air was much colder than usual.

Annabeth gasped behind me. "Is that…snow?"

That's impossible, I thought. It was the middle of June. It was summer time. Before I had time to think much about it, a sudden gust of cold wind blow over us. I ducked my head down to avoid the stinging sensation in my eyes.

_Man, it's worse than when I left,_ Blackjack spoke in my mind again.

_What's going on? _I thought to him.

_I don't know, boss. It just got really cold all of a sudden. And then…_

His voice faded in my mind. I felt like my insides were being freezer-burned. I felt so overwhelmingly dizzy, and cold, and shaky…

I didn't remember letting go of Blackjack's mane, but I did remember comprehending that fact that I was no longer holding on, that I was falling toward the ocean, and I could hear Annabeth's voice screaming my name…

Then the world faded to black.

* * *

><p><em>I was standing in a dimly lit forest. Snow surrounded me on all sides. Icicles hung from the branches above me. Crouching behind a tree was a young girl, younger than me by several years. Her hair was sandy blonde, with a single blue streak on one side. She held a turquoise bow in her hands, an arrow notched, ready to shoot. Her green eyes were watery, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Her hands shook as she aimed at an unseen target. She obviously didn't want to shoot whatever…or <em>who_ever…it was she was aiming for. As if to prove my point, the girl whispered, "I'm sorry…I'm really sorry." She hesitated, and then continued, "I love you." Finally, she released the arrow._

* * *

><p>I woke up with every inch of my body aching. Someone was calling my name, running their fingers through my hair, shaking me gently. I tried to sit up, but every bone in my body felt broken. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.<p>

"Percy, can you hear me? Say something, please," Annabeth's voice said.

I opened my eyes. Annabeth's face hovered over me. She held a canteen of nectar in her hand.

"Here, drink this. You're hurt."

She helped me sit up and handed me the canteen. I took a small sip and felt its warmth spread through me. The pain in my body subsided. "What happened?" I asked Annabeth.

She frowned with concern. "You just fainted and fell. Blackjack and I tried to catch you, but we couldn't. You hit the ground pretty hard. If it weren't for the Achilles curse, you probably wouldn't be alive right now."

Something about that bothered me. I distinctly remember being over the beach when I fell. Usually I didn't worry about falling in the water. I mean, I'm the son of Poseidon. The water protected me. It should've cushioned my fall. "What happened to the ocean?" I asked. "Why didn't it catch me?"

Annabeth's worried expression didn't change at all. "I don't know who did it, or why," she started, "but the sea…it's frozen."

My heart skipped a beat. Frozen? That didn't make any sense. That wasn't even possible. "What do you mean frozen?"

"See for yourself," she said.

But even before she moved aside to let me have a better look, I felt dread in my heart. Normally I would be able to hear the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore, then pulling back. Now, I heard nothing but silence. Then I noticed the thin layer of snow covering the sand, and the cold fog that hung right over the water. I caught my breath. It was just like my dream. What had that girl said? _The first step, done. He'll be even more vulnerable now that he doesn't have his precious ocean protecting him. _

Annabeth wrapped her arms around my neck from behind me, bringing me back to the present. I can't believe someone out there is powerful enough to do that," she whispered. She looked at me, her gray eyes stormy, and I knew she was figuring out the possibilities in her head.

"I just hope it's not another Titan," I muttered.

'Oh, don't even mention it," Annabeth said with a shudder. She rested her cheek on mine for a few seconds, then pulled back. "Percy, you still feel kind of warm."

I shrugged. I felt pretty normal, aside from the slight sting in my throat and chest. "Probably the nectar," I guessed. But part of me knew that wasn't the most likely reason. I started to cough again, the pain escalating from before, to the point where breathing hurt.

I saw Annabeth's expression, and said, "I'm fine, Annabeth. Stop worrying."

Her face didn't show any sign of stopping her worry, but she said "Fine." The she offered me her hand and I took it. "Come on, it's almost dinnertime. And we've got a bunch of new campers now." Then she added with a small smile, "Thanks to you."

**Reviews are always appreciated. I don't own PJO or the characters from PJO. I do own my OCs. That's why they're OCs.**

**Thanks again, ~Mandi2341**


	4. My Sister Steals My Bed

**Author's Note: Finally done with this one. Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I know I'm late. Yes, I know you're all annoyed with me. I had a little bit of writer's block, but I got through it. I had so many different story plots in my mind, and I was busy and preoccupied with stuff, life, you know. But I'm done, and happy! **

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Percy Jackson or the Olympians.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: My Sister Steals My Bed<p>

The dining pavilion was full to capacity with campers. Since last summer, the gods have been keeping their promise about claiming their children. I glanced at the head table, where about fifteen demigods were sitting anxiously. A lot of them had cuts and bruises all over their faces, as if they'd been chased by monsters all the way there (which was probably the truth).

Everyone was sitting at their tables, talking, waiting for the meal to start, until Chiron thumped his hoof against the marble floor, signaling for silence.

"Welcome back, campers!" Chiron announced. "I am pleased to congratulate you all on the defeat of Kronos last summer. Well done!"

We all cheered in response.

"Mr. D," Chiron said, turning to the camp director, "is there anything you wish to say to the campers?"

Mr. D, short for Dionysus, god of wine, looked up with a bored expression on his face, which wasn't very surprising, since he seemed generally bored with life since Zeus had sent him down here to run the camp after chasing an off-limits wood nymph. "Yeah, yeah," he said tiredly. "So the little brats were lucky enough _not_ to get killed by monsters and Titans. Whoop-di-do."

I rolled my eyes. I knew that even though he would never admit it, he knew our success was important, since we'd been fighting here in New York while the gods fought Typhon in the west.

Chiron continued. "Since this summer is the anniversary of our victory, we will have a dance this Saturday to celebrate!"

Excited murmuring ensued. I glanced over at Annabeth, who gave me a wink. I definitely had an idea of who _I _was going to ask.

Someone near Table Eight cleared her throat. I turned to see who it was, and I was surprised to see my friend Thalia, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis. She was standing with her arms folded.

Chiron acknowledged her with a nod and a smile. "And I'd like to give a warm welcome to the Hunters of Artemis, who have been invited back to share in occasion."

There was some half-hearted applause; the campers didn't really like the Hunters, and vice-versa. But Thalia nodded and gave a short smile. She was the only Hunter who was friendly with us campers.

"And now," Chiron said loudly, "let us introduce our new campers, who have been found by our satyrs over the school year." He gestured toward the group of new half-bloods sitting at the head table and told us their names. They all looked different ages, but none older than thirteen. _Good,_ I thought. _At least the gods were keeping that part of their promise._ I'd asked for half-bloods to be claimed before age thirteen because that was when their powers began to grow, and when they began to be noticed by monsters. I myself had almost been thirteen when I'd come to camp.

One by one, the campers were claimed by their godly parents: two Apollo kids, a son of Ares, a daughter of Hephaestus, a son of Nemesis, a couple of Athena kids, and a few Hermes kids. I was painfully reminded of Luke, and how after his death, his father Hermes had made me promise to make sure his children made it safely to camp. I assumed these were the kids he'd been talking about, since I'd reminded the satyrs to keep an eye out for them.

The next kid was up, _Jessica,_ I remembered—a blond girl with a bright blue streak on the side of her face. With a jolt, I realized she looked exactly like the girl from my dream. As I stared at her, she glanced my way for a brief half-second. And in that brief half-second, I met her eyes. They were green, like mine. In fact, they were _exactly_ the same sea green as mine. A split second before the symbol appeared over her head, I knew what it was going to be.

A shimmering green trident, the symbol of my father, Poseidon, spun above Jessica's head, filling the room with a calm green light. Jessica was a daughter of Poseidon. Chiron pointed to my table, _our_ table, and Jessica walked over to it, looking dazed, as the symbol over her head disappeared.

In the back of my mind, I remembered talking with Poseidon at the end of last summer, his inside-joke wink after he'd told me he'd have to claim his other children. I'd asked if he'd been kidding, and until now, I wasn't sure. But now, I knew he had been serious.

I felt a tap on my forearm. "Uh…is anyone there?" Jessica asked with a raised eyebrow.

I realized I'd been staring off into space. "Oh, sorry," I apologized. "Just…a lot on my mind, I guess. Um, I'm Percy."

"Jessica," she replied. She looked around the room with wonder apparent on her face. "Is the place seriously real? I'm not dreaming?"

I managed a small smile. I remembered being so confused on my first day at camp. "Didn't your satyr explain?" I asked her.

Jessica shrugged. "He just said that it was a safe place for kids like me. Like _us_, I guess," she corrected. "But I just remember a giant dog attacking me, and I guess I'd gotten knocked out, because I woke up in that big blue house with my head throbbing." She gave a nervous laugh. "But I'm guessing that's probably not weird to you at all, is it?"

I managed a shrug before the room lit up with silver light. We both turned our heads to the head table, but no one was over there but Chiron and Mr. D. Then Jessica turned toward the pavilion entrance and gasped. "No way," she whispered.

I followed her gaze and gasped as well. Standing at the entrance with the symbol of Athena—a silver owl—over her head was that girl from school, Avery. Her eyes looked up for a short moment to glance at the symbol floating above her, then she glanced at our table. She seemed to meet Jessica's eyes for a second. Jessica was still staring in awe, like she still couldn't believe the girl was standing there.

The pavilion filled with an awkward silence; she hadn't been one the demigods at the table—in fact, I hadn't seen her at all since school. She'd just suddenly showed up at camp and gotten claimed by Athena. All eyes drifted over to the Athena table, where Annabeth tentatively stood, motioning for the new demigod to join her. Annabeth caught my eye, and I shrugged. But I felt a little uneasy. Avery glanced in my direction, and, unless the light was playing tricks with me, her eyes seemed to glare icily into mine. I felt cold inside all over again, like another awful cough attack was threatening to take over. And it was stranger still that her eyes were blue instead of gray. All of the Athena kids, even Athena herself, had stormy gray eyes.

Jessica shook her head, mystified. "I cannot believe this," she murmured to herself.

Glad to look away from Avery's cold stare, I looked at Jessica. "Why not?" I asked her. "You sound like you know her from somewhere."

"I do," she said. "She and I used to be neighbors when we were little, up here in New York. We were like sisters…but my mom moved us down to Louisiana, and I haven't heard from her since." She shook her head with disbelief. "I can't believe all of that weird stuff happening to us was because we were…_half-bloods_."

"Oh." I didn't get a chance to think about it for too long, because then the harpies entered with pizza platters and bowls of grapes, along with some pastries. I picked up my plate and made my way to the bronze brazier to place my grapes in. "Jessica," I said, "The gods like us campers to sacrifice a portion of our meal to them, because they like how it smells." I was a little shocked to hear myself sound so much like Luke on my first day of camp. Jessica's perplexed look made me continue. "Just watch me." I lifted the bunch of grapes. "Poseidon," I murmured. Then I let the grapes fall into the flames, the smell of a fresh ocean breeze circling around me.

"It smells like the ocean," Jessica said.

I nodded. "Your turn."

She picked up a slice of pizza and did as I did. Then she turned to me. "So I'm guessing that means Poseidon's paying attention?" she asked.

I shrugged. It was an honest question, though I could never really tell when my father—_our_ father—was listening to me. But after he'd hugged me last summer, I liked to think that he paid more attention to me that he had before…

I sighed. "I guess so," I finally managed.

When we got back to our table, I lifted my goblet and told it, "Blue Cherry Coke." The dark liquid sparkled into my cup.

Jessica's eyes fixed her eyes on it. "Your cup just filled with blue Cherry Coke," she said incredulously.

I gave her a small smile. "Oh, yeah," I said. "Tell it whatever you want as long as it's not alcohol."

She rolled her eyes. "Too bad," she said sarcastically. "I was planning on alcohol."

We both laughed, then Jessica looked at her own goblet. She hesitated before tentatively saying, "Pink lemonade?" Immediately her goblet filled with the drink. She took a sip and smiled. "Awesome," she giggled.

"So," I said, "You said you were from Louisiana. What are you doing up here in New York?"

Jessica frowned, lowering her goblet and picking up her fork. "You see, things were getting really weird at home, like, strange attacks happening at school and stuff," she explained. "So, my mom decided to take a road trip to New York, for reasons she wouldn't explain, but I now understand. Halfway there, somewhere in Virginia, she dropped me off with some strange guy with curly hair, and we began to drive up to New York, but then this giant dog attacked us over near that big hill with the pine tree."

"Half-Blood Hill?" I asked.

She shrugged. "If that's what it's called, then yeah," she replied. I was running and it jumped on top of me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the big blue farmhouse."

I raised an eyebrow, but I wasn't at all surprised. I mean, it was pretty similar to how _I_ got to Camp Half-Blood. "I can totally relate," I told her.

Jessica's gaze drifted over to the Athena table again. "I can't believe we're _both_ half-bloods," she muttered.

I shrugged. Annabeth met my eyes and gave me a wink. That sent butterflies fluttering around in my stomach, and I smiled.

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><p>After a nice campfire and sing-along, we made our way back to the Poseidon cabin, with its gray sea-stone walls. Jessica stepped through the doorway and stood staring at the room. She seemed to be in a total trance. "Whoa," she managed. She looked walked over to my bed and ran her fingers over the minotaur horn on the wall. She mouthed the word "Wow," and kept looking around. "It's beautiful in here," she whispered. She looked up at the ceiling and pointed. "What are those?" she asked.<p>

I saw what she meant and smiled. "Hippocampi," I answered, remembering how Tyson had made the small horse-fish hybrids, so delicately working with his huge Cyclops hands.

Jessica climbed onto my bed and relaxed, putting her hands behind her head. "I could really get used to this place," she sighed.

"Fine, as long as you get your own bed to sleep on, because that one's mine," I said.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Doesn't really matter, does it?" she asked. "But fine, I'll move, just for you, _mon frère_," she said.

I frowned. "What?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "It means, 'my brother'," she explained. "Like the song, '_Frère Jacques'_, remember?"

"So you're French?" I asked.

"Yup. I love it—the language of love," she sighed. Then she looked at me with a seemingly knowing smile playing across her lips. "And speaking of love…seems to me like you're in love with that Athena counselor, Annabeth."

I could feel my face get warmer, but I nodded.

"I thought so," Jessica said. "I saw her wink at you, and you smiled back. Also, you came in together holding hands. As a matter of fact, I saw lots of hand-holding at the campfire tonight, too."

"Well, yeah," I said. "She's my girlfriend."

"For how long?"

I blinked. "Since last August, so?"

Jessica raised her eyebrows, as if she were impressed. "Since _last_ August?" she asked. "Nice. Most of my friends don't keep their boyfriends for a whole _month_, much less a year."

I frowned. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen, almost fourteen," she answered. "And you're what, sixteen?"

I nodded. "Almost seventeen," I added.

"So," Jessica said nonchalantly, "did you two have your first kiss yet? I hope so, because you cannot have gone out for a whole year without one kiss."

My face must've been glowing. "That's none of your business."

"So you have."

"So what if I have?"

"Did you kiss her, or did _she_ kiss _you_?"

"I said, that's none—"

"I bet she kissed you," she decided. "You look too shy to make the first move."

My face was on fire. I opened my mouth to answer, but then there was a knock at the door. Taking the opportunity to escape my awkward situation, I answered it. The person standing at the threshold was none other than Annabeth.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she smiled.

"Well, Annabeth," Jessica smiled back, strolling casually up to the door. "We were just talking about you."

"Oh, really?" Annabeth said, but she had her eyes on me. "Good things, I hope?"

"Great things," Jessica said. Then she took a step back, studying us as if she were going to take a picture or something. She smiled. "Yeah," she decided. "You two are officially adorable together. Oh, you know, Annabeth," she added before lowering her voice to a whisper that everyone in the room could hear, "He really _wants_ to kiss you, but he's too shy to-"

I clamped my hand over her mouth and gave a nervous laugh, but the blush wouldn't leave my cheeks. Annabeth's face was a little pink, too, but she managed a smile.

"Um, anyway," she said, "I just came to say goodnight…so, uh, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Annabeth," I replied as she pecked me on the cheek. "And I'm sorry about—"

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine," she smiled.

When she was gone, I still lingered at the door, trying to compose myself. That was a moment that I would never, ever be able to erase. "Lights out," I told Jessica.

We both got undressed and went to bed, Jessica taking the bunk above mine. I lay in my own bed, wondering how I would get through this summer with my new half-sister.

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><p><strong>Cool! I actually sort of like this chapter, and Jessica's a fun character to create. Review, and stuff! You're all awesome!<strong>

**BTW what do you guys think about me writing an AU story? *gasp***

**Plot would be, Percy is a god, and he has a daughter with Annabeth named Andi (Andromeda). I know, the name isn't original, but it seriously works with my story and I chose it for a reason. You know how Perseus saved Andromeda? Well, I was thinking, maybe in the new generation, Andromeda can save Perseus. Yeah, Percy would get captured or something, and his daughter would go on a quest to save him. Probably not a good plot so far, but once I get the ball rolling in my head, it would be cool. I promise. Anyway, tell me what you think. **

**~Mandi2341**


	5. I Lose a Sword Fight

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry this took so long, but I finally got this done! I had to add some stuff to make it make more sense. Thanks you for the reviews, I love them!**

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><p>Chapter 5: I Lose a Swordfight<p>

_ I heard voices in my dreams that night. Whispered conversation between two people. But I couldn't see their faces. But the voices were vaguely familiar. I strained to listen to what was being said._

_ A hazy figure was standing in the darkness. I recognized Thalia's pine tree, and I could see the whole valley of Camp Half-Blood below me. The whole place was frosty white with snow. I'd seen the camp with snow in it before, but this was more sinister. The hazy figure, which looked like a young girl, looked over the hill at the valley and nodded with approval. "Yes," she said. "This is perfect. Once he's eliminated, there will be no more worries for our family."_

_ Another figure approached the pine tree. She was also a young girl, wrapped in a blanket. Her face was difficult to make out in the darkness. "Master had taken care of the first part of the plan, my lady. He will never be able to recover from this."_

_ The hazy girl shook her head. "It was not enough. The blonde and the mortal interrupted him. And you must remember that he is not a mere mortal. It will take a lot more to get rid of him."_

_ The girl in the blanket replied, "He is vulnerable, my lady. Couldn't we just kill him?"_

_ "He is not _that_ vulnerable. Only in extreme situations, for example, falling from great heights, like I caused him to do. But we will still need his Achilles spot to destroy him once and for all, unless his condition worsens."_

_ "It will, my lady," the blanket girl replied. "He is getting worse by the hour, even if he doesn't know it."_

_ They were both silent for a few minutes, and then the hazy girl said, "I want him out of the picture before he even knows what's wrong with him. If not, the whole plan will collapse."_

_ "Yes, my lady." The girl in the blanket walked slowly back toward the camp as the hazy figure vanished into a cold mist._

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><p>I woke up with a start, feeling achy all over and shivering. I sat up slowly, trying to organize my thoughts. <em>Okay,<em> I thought. _Some girls, along with Price, are plotting to kill me._ Price had tried to kill me, though it hadn't been enough. I shuddered, remembering the sharp pain that felt like my lungs were being wrenched apart. If that hadn't been enough, I was afraid of what "enough" was.

The door to the cabin creaked open, and Jessica poked her head in. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, look, you're up," she said smiling pleasantly. "_Bonjour, mon fr__è__re_."

I sighed and got up. I coughed a couple of times and grimaced in pain. I felt sort of out of it, like I was coming down with the flu or something. Jessica was wearing long sleeves under her Camp Half-Blood shirt. I frowned. "Is it still that cold outside?" I asked.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "There's snow on the ground, remember?" As soon as she said that, she frowned as well. "That's so freaky, though. It's supposed to be the summer, isn't it?"

I shook my head, trying to clear the images of my dream from my head. "Someone's messing with the weather here," I told her. "I don't know who or why, but that's what's going on."

She pondered this for a moment before saying, "Chiron's looking for you. So is your girlfriend."

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"Somewhere around ten. You really sleep in, don't you?"

I didn't answer her, because I usually don't sleep in. But it was almost like my body didn't want to get up, like it was too tired. I was still feeling pretty groggy, and hungry, since I'd missed breakfast. I ran through my schedule in my head, trying to remember what else I'd missed. Nothing, yet, but I had sword fighting with the Athena cabin. I figured I could get a snack from the camp store or something. I slapped on some jeans and a camp T-shirt, and I grabbed my sister to leave for the arena.

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><p>On our way over there, we passed by the archery range, where the Athena kids were practicing their shooting. Jessica pointed. "C'mon, let's go," she said.<p>

"The sword fighting arena is that way," I told her, pointing ahead of us.

"Come on, Percy," she pleaded. "I _love_ archery. _Si'l te pla__î__t_?" She looked at me with her big green eyes—my green eyes. Offhand, I wondered if I'd ever looked like that. I stared at her for a few seconds, and then finally gave in. "Fine," I said. "Let's see how good you are, if you love it so much."

"I won't disappoint," she replied.

Now, normally, I would never be caught anywhere near the archery range, so Chiron looked a little surprised when I walked over with my little sister.

"Well, Percy," he said, "Never imagined seeing you at archery."

"I love archery," Jessica beamed.

"We can't be related," I sighed.

Annabeth was nocking an arrow when she noticed me. "Hey, Percy," she smiled. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and her silver eyes glittered with anticipation. "You're joining us today?"

"Yeah," I said. "Apparently Jessica likes archery."

She nodded proudly. And pointed to a bracelet on her wrist I'd never noticed before. It was made up of aqua-colored spheres that shimmered like the ocean in the sunlight. It was the elastic kind, the type that could fit over any wrist. "You see this?" she said, showing it to me. "I found it in the Gulf of Mexico off of the coast of Louisiana. I guess it was a gift from Poseidon," she said. Then she turned to the target. "Watch this," she said, smiling. She pulled on her bracelet, and it expanded until she was holding a glistening bow and arrow.

I felt cold shivers down my spine. It was the same green and blue bow and arrow from my dream. Was Jessica the girl? And who was she going to shoot with her arrow?

"Look," Jessica said, pulling me out of my daydream. "Percy, if I make this bull's eye, I get to shower first. Okay?"

I looked at her skeptically. "Yeah right," I muttered. "Like you'll get a bull's eye." Children of Poseidon were rarely good shooters. We were standing twenty yards away from the targets. I was positive Jessica wouldn't get a bull's eye. Not from that distance.

Even so, when Jessica released her green arrow, it was like a sea breeze rustled through my hair, and a sparkling trail of aquamarine swirled around the arrow. My eyes widened as the arrow impaled itself right outside the center of the target.

"Darn," Jessica muttered, but she was smiling. "So close."

I stared open-mouthed at the target. "There's no way we're related," I decided. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"I told you; I love archery. I practice it all the time. One day, at a summer camp – a normal one, nothing like this – I picked up a bow and shot an arrow at a target. Turns out I was really good at it, so I kept at it. Now it's your turn." She handed me a bow and arrow.

As I notched the arrow, I prayed silently that I wouldn't make _too_ big a fool of myself. Unfortunately when I released, the arrow barely went two feet in front of me. I felt my cheeks burn as Jessica and the Athena cabin laughed. Annabeth cocked an eyebrow as if to say, _Seriously? That's the best you can do?_

I let out a sigh. "See?" I said. "I'm no good at archery."

I heard one Athena camper laugh, "At least you're honest."

Annabeth was still giggling as her arrow sailed into the target. Not exactly a bull's eye, but it was a better attempt than mine.

After about an hour, we went to the sword-fighting arena. Now I was in my comfort zone. I uncapped Riptide and the pen grew into a three-foot-long glowing celestial bronze blade. I looked over at Avery and saw she was admiring it hungrily. I thought this was kind of strange, but I didn't worry about it that much.

Annabeth unsheathed her own bronze blade. I'd never watched her fight with a sword before; she always used her dagger. But I figured she was just as deadly with a sword as with a knife. "First lesson," she called over the talking campers. she picked up her bow and arrow and tossed it to the side. Then she focused her gray eye on me. "Percy, come here. Demonstration time."

I frowned at her warily. "What's the lesson?" I asked her.

"You'll see." She turned to the others. "Percy and I will demonstrate in real time, an example of a typical sword fight, until one of us disarms the other, okay?"

"Of course it's 'Percy and Annabeth'," someone sighed.

"Always, right?" someone else agreed.

I saw Jessica whisper to someone else and giggle. Probably about our little "conversation" the night before. Butterflies started fluttering around in my stomach. My heart pounded against my ribs. I'd never faced Annabeth in battle before, and I didn't know what to do. If I beat her, she'd be upset at me for hurting her pride. If she beat me, I'd have to live with being beaten at a swordfight by my girlfriend. I figured I could live with the first choice.

"_En guarde_," Malcolm, Annabeth's older brother, laughed. I made sure my sword was comfortable in my hands.

"_Allez_!" Jessica shouted.

"Huh?" I said.

She sighed impatiently. "It's French for 'Go!'"

Oh. That made so much sense it hurt.

Annabeth pressed me hard, slashing wildly, but skillfully, at me. It was graceful and intimidating at the same time. I countered her attacks with Riptide. Then I tried the disarming maneuver I'd learned from Luke so long ago, where I hit my opponent's hilt with my own. Annabeth grunted and pushed back at me with a scary, determined look. She elbowed my in the shoulder, but I didn't feel a thing. Thank the gods for the curse of Achilles.

Her blade made contact with mine, and sparks flew. We kept at it for about ten minutes before I tried a stab at her armor. Caught by surprise she jumped back and tripped. Then next moment she was on the ground, stunned.

Panting, she tucked messy strands of hair behind her ear. I helped her up. We stood facing each other for about thirty seconds, while the campers watched in silence. Annabeth was still breathing heavily, and she lowered her sword in exhaustion. "You're a worthy swordsman, Perseus Jackson," she smiled.

I approached her, trying to decide whether to press her again or to end the lesson right then and there. But before I could do anything, Annabeth swiped with her blade. It hit my sword, knocking it to the ground (and twisting my wrist in the process). She swiped at my feet. All of this was done in one swift motion and ultimately ended with me on the ground, weaponless.

Annabeth pointed her sword centimeters from my neck. Her eyes flashed triumphantly as she straightened. Then she turned to our audience. "Do not, under any circumstances, let your opponent catch you off guard. Understood?"

The campers nodded vigorously. Most of them, including my sister, were suppressing smiles.

Annabeth gave me her hand and pulled me up. All I could do was stare at her in embarrassment. She smiled. I shook my head. "Thanks for making an example out of me, Wise Girl," I muttered.

She laughed with a shrug. "You're really good at getting distracted. There's no room for distractions during battle. You've got to be more focused."

I narrowed my eyes. "That wasn't fair," I protested. "You knew I'd help you up!"

She frowned. "That's not my fault. Most enemies will know your weaknesses and use them against you. Loyalty's your fatal flaw, remember?"

I tried not to, but she was right, as always. I sighed. "Fine. You won."

She grinned. The way her eyes gleamed made my heart race. Why was she so beautiful? Then she uses it to her advantage. She was definitely a daughter of Athena. Then something crossed my mind. "Uh, I was wondering…" I started. I wanted to reassure that we were allies for capture the flag on Friday. "We're still on for capture the flag, right?"

She looked uncomfortable, which bothered me.

"We _are_ on for Friday, right?" I urged.

"Um…actually, I've made an alliance with the Hunters for Friday."

It took me a minute to realize that she'd made an alliance with Thalia instead of me. "Wait. The _Hunters_?" I asked.

"Well…yeah."

"They hate campers!"

"Thalia had an idea. She made an alliance with Athena, Ares, and Apollo."

"Styx…" I murmured. Thunder rolled. Thalia had managed to get the best alliance. With the war god, the battle goddess, and the twin archers, their team would be unstoppable. I figured I better get some allies…fast.

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><p><strong>Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!<strong>

**Oh and by the way, _Secrets and Sleepovers _ is almost done! Maybe 2 chapters left? Cool!**

**Merry Christmas!**

**~Mandi2341**


	6. I Get the World's Worst BrainFreeze

**Author's Note: Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this story...and I sincerely apologize for that. But I kept my promise; it was a fast update since _Secrets and Sleepovers,_ right? And now that it's summer, there will be a lot more updates because I have time again. Thanks PixieKindOfCrazy for beta-ing.**

**By the way, I need to say some things about _The Mark of Athena_, so if you want to tell me what you think of the first chapter so far, I want to know!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO or really anything except like, you know, OCs...yeah.**

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><p>Chapter 6: I Get the World's Worst Brain-Freeze<p>

The conch horn blew for lunch. As we walked toward the dining pavilion, I caught Thalia with a group of her Hunters. They gave me dirty looks, but I managed to pull Thalia away for two seconds.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

I glared at her. "How'd you get the best cabins on your team for capture the flag?" I asked her.

She laughed and pulled herself away from me, heading back to her table. "A girl has her ways, Jackson," she replied in that mysterious way girls do that annoys me. "You better bring you're A-game to capture the flag Friday night…you'll definitely need it."

With that said, she marched back to her table, laughing along with her friends.

Annabeth gave me a sly look. "Get ready, Seaweed Brain," she told me. "Because you're going down Friday night."

"I always bring my A-game to capture the flag," I countered.

"Well," Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow, "I guess we'll see."

As she walked back to her own table, I took Jessica to ours. We got our lunches, sacrificed a part of it into the bronze brazier.

As we sat back at our table, Jessica pointed at me with her fork. "What are those beads for?" she asked. "I see everyone here with them, and I noticed your girlfriend has a lot more than you do. But she still has the same ones as you do."

"Oh," I looked down at my necklace. "Yeah," I started, "every year, at the end of the summer, you get a clay bead with a picture of the most important event of the summer." I twisted my first bead. "This trident one," I explained, "was…dedicated to me."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "To you? Why?"

I felt my face getting a little warmer, but I told her how I was the first child of Poseidon at Camp Half-Blood.

"Oooh, nice," she said but I could see something in her expression, like wistfulness, maybe wishing she was here then.

She pointed again. "And the one with the gold fluffy thing on it?"

I chuckled. "Didn't you see the 'gold fluffy thing' on your way into the valley? With the giant dragon?"

She shook her head. "Nope, like I said, I don't remember anything between fighting the giant hellhound thing and waking up in the big blue house. I must've been carried over the hill while I was unconscious or something."

_Wow, those were similar circumstances that brought us both to this camp, _I thought. Except I got a minotaur instead of a hell-hound…not sure if that's better or worse.

"Well," I started, "there's a long story behind this bead. You see, about ten years ago, Annabeth, Thalia, and this other guy, Luke, came to camp chased by every monster in the underworld."

"The same Thalia sitting right over there?" Jessica pointed at the Hunters' table, raising both eyebrows, looking slightly impressed and slightly scared.

I nodded. "She almost died protecting Annabeth and Luke, and Zeus turned her into a pine tree. It would protect our borders, but then the tree was poisoned. We found the Golden Fleece to heal it, and Thalia turned back into a girl."

Jessica stared at me with complete and utter disbelief on her face. She glanced at Annabeth, then at Thalia, then back at me. "Are you serious?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Demigod life is complicated sometimes."

"And who's Luke?"

I tensed. It was still a sore subject for a lot of us at camp, especially me, but I managed, "He was a son of Hermes, but he died last year during the Second Titan War. His name's at the top of this bead." I showed her my bead from last summer, with all of the lost campers' names in Ancient Greek.

"And what are the last two beads for?"

"From the Battle of the Labyrinth and the Battle for Manhattan," I answered. "First, two years ago, the Titans tried to invade camp through a labyrinth entrance in the woods, but it was destroyed. Then last summer, they tried to attack the Empire State Building, hence the bead. The Empire State Building, by the way—"

"I know," Jessica cut me off. "It's the entrance to Mount Olympus. I saw the video about how the gods are still around and move from place to place and now they're here in the U.S. and all that good stuff. So, at the end of the summer, I'll get a bead necklace, too?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied. "At the end of the summer, all the new kids get a necklace."

Just then, Jessica looked up, and in the same second I felt someone grip my shoulders from behind me. I jumped.

"Hey, hero," I familiar voice greeted.

I relaxed and turned around to greet the redhead with a smile, "Rachel Elizabeth Dare," I said, not able to keep the grinning smirk off my face, "Funny seeing you here."

Rachel rolled her eyes and ignored me, "And this must be your little sister…Jessica, right?"

Jessica's eyes widened. "How do you know me?"

"I'm the oracle," Rachel replied with a wink. "I know lots of stuff that I shouldn't." She sat next to me. "I know I'm late. Just got out of school yesterday." She scanned the cafeteria and waved at Annabeth. Then her eyes went wide and her body tensed.

Jessica and I looked at each other, frowning. I turned back to Rachel carefully. "Um, what's wrong?" I asked her.

Suddenly she turned toward me with an unsettled expression. "Are…you okay?" she asked me warily.

Now that she asked me, my head still felt pretty heavy, and my throat was sore. I thought about my dream from the night before, and I wondered if Rachel knew anything about it. Even so, I nodded.

Rachel didn't look like she believed me, but for some reason, she didn't call me out on it like she usually would've, that worried me, "Okay…I'll see you later." She got up from the table abruptly. "Nice to meet you, Jessica," she added quickly, then ran out of the pavilion.

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><p>Later that afternoon, we had some free time, so Jessica hung out with her friend Avery. Rachel's behavior had gotten me worrying about my dream from the night before, so I met Annabeth at the pier by the canoe lake. Grover met us there, too. He looked so much more mature since he'd become a member of the Council of Cloven Elders.<p>

I told them both about my dream with the two girls on top of Half-Blood Hill, and their plan to eliminate me. I told Grover about Price and how he'd breathed cold mist, and the moment of painful suffocation, as well as falling off my pegasus, and the face I saw in the clouds.

Grover frowned at the frozen water of the lake. "So…you're teacher tried to kill you yesterday? And these girls are in on it?"

"These girls mentioned a family, right?" Annabeth asked. "They've all got to be part of whatever family this is. It sounds like they think you're going to do something bad to them."

I nodded at Annabeth's deductions, glad for her being smarter than me for once. "Price said something about me causing trouble in the near future," I remembered. "And the girls said that I'd be dead before I even knew what was wrong with me…but what's wrong with me?"

Annabeth looked me over with concern. "It might have something to do with that fever you were running yesterday. And what about that cough?"

"What fever?" Grover asked. "And what cough?"

As if on cue, a cold breeze blew through, making us all shiver. I could feel goosebumps rise on my arms, and I started to cough terribly.

"Ah," Grover murmured worriedly. "That cough."

I would've laughed if my throat wasn't sore.

"Maybe you should tell Chiron. Every other time something like this came up and we didn't ask for his help, it always ended badly," Annabeth suggested, taking my hand. Her hand was very warm…or maybe mine was just really cold.

"I will," I promised. _But…not just yet_, I added mentally. Chiron would keep me under lock and key if he found out someone in the camp was trying to kill me. And besides, one more part of that dream was bothering me. "They…mentioned needing to find my Achilles spot to finish me off," I added with a slight shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature outside. Suddenly I was very aware of the small of my back.

Annabeth met my eyes; stormy grey to flashing green. I felt like we could sense each other's fear and I think…we actually could now. I've never said it out loud, but she was my tie to the mortal world. I saw her in the Styx when I gained my invincibility, and last summer she saved me from a knife to my back.

Grover was looking back and forth between us, and I could tell he was trying to read our emotions, the way satyrs could. Finally, he said, "But they don't know where your weak spot is, right?"

Hesitantly, shook my head. "No one does." Slight lie. Annabeth was the only person I've ever told. _I hope she knows I'm fibbing and not calling her 'no one'._

"Then you're fine," Grover assured me.

"They said they could just let Price's curse kill me first," I reminded him.

"But," Annabeth pointed out, "they said it might take too long. So we can find out what's wrong with you before they find your Achille's heel…so to speak."

"Wait," Grover piped in, "It's not actually you're heel, right?"

I stared at him. "Even if it was, I couldn't tell you."

But I reconsidered telling Chiron. Maybe he knew what exactly this whole thing was about. But just then, I saw Jessica walking toward us. "Hey," she called. "Percy, we need to find some allies for capture the flag. _Allons-y_."

I didn't understand that last part, but I looked at Annabeth and Grover, who shrugged. "We'll talk about this again later," Annabeth told me. "_After_ I kick your butt in capture the flag. Oh and by the way, Seaweed Brain. It's French…'_Allons-y_'. I saw your confused face; it means 'let's go.'"

I chuckled, throwing an arm around her and giving her a peck on the cheek and Grover a high-five. But I couldn't help feeling like I was a dead-man walking. I hoped that they were right; we would figure this all out before it was too late.

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><p>After that we spent the next couple of days bargaining and trading with the other counselors to be on our side for Capture the Flag. When Friday finally came along, we had Demeter, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hermes, Hades, and some of the minor gods on our side: the blue team. The Hunters, Apollo, Ares, and Athena were on the red team. We finished dinner and Chiron called our attention. Since Thalia and I were the captains, we'd made our flags and charged into the pavilion. Thalia's flag was silver silk with a deer in the center. The flag in my hands was mage of green silk with a bronze trident.<p>

"Campers and Hunters!" he shouted. "It is time for Capture the Flag!"

Cheers erupted from the pavilion.

"For our new campers, the rules are simple: the flag must be prominently displayed, and guards are not to stand within twenty yards of it. All of the woods are fair game and the boundary line is the creek. All magical weapons are allowed. No intentional maiming or you will be disqualified from the game and severely punished."

There were groans and protests from the Ares and Artemis tables. I could swear Jessica's face turned a little paler.

I chuckled, a little uncomfortable, and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's fine. If you don't know what to do, then just stay behind me. But I think you'll do good," she smiled back at me, regaining color…if only a little.

Chiron ignored the protests and continued. "Now. Arm yourselves!" He waved his hand, and the head table was covered in Greek battle armor: swords, bows, breastplates, shields, and helmets. I set our flag against the wall and grabbed a breastplate and helmet. Jessica was staring at the armor. I turned to her. "Well? What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"Are we seriously using real swords?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah," I replied, furrowing my eyebrows trying to remember why mortals think that's weird. I took Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. In three seconds I was holding my celestial bronze sword. "It's practice for fighting monsters." I strapped on my armor, and then helped Jessica with hers, "It's only practical that we get used to the real thing."

Jessica was trembling a little, as if she were scared. She looked at me. "Um…nobody's going to, like, hurt us for real, right?"

"Hopefully not," I said, shrugging, she would get used to it, "Stay away from the Ares cabin, and the Hunters, if you can help it. Clarisse has an electric spear, and Thalia has a shield that can seriously scare you, even if you're not the type to get scared, _this _will freak you out. Annabeth has an invisibility Yankees cap. And those are just _some_ of the magic items on the other team. Luckily," I added, "You have your bow and arrow; I have Riptide. Our team will win. Just be quick, careful, and clever and we'll do fine." I picked up my flag and led the team outside to Zeus's Fist.

We'd set up our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist, partly because it was hard to climb and partly because some of the campers were afraid of it. Two summers ago, there had been a Labyrinth entrance that Kronos's forces had used to invade the camp, and the battle we'd fought left us with bad memories. I doubted the other team would think we'd have the nerve to put our flag there. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and we were going to have to step it up a notch to beat Thalia and her team.

I stationed our best archers, including Jessica, at the base of the rock pile. The Hephaestus and Demeter cabins set up trip wires and gadgets and pots of Greek fire around Zeus's Fist, as well as the creek. The Hermes and Aphrodite cabins were scattered around the forest. I took Pollux, son of Dionysus, to the creek. When we got there, my eyes widened.

The creek was all ice. Seriously, I could literally walk on it without worrying about it breaking. I frowned. _All of this was part of their plan_, I thought, remembering those girls in my dream.

"Oh," Pollux said. "Um, the day you got here, all of the water around camp froze for some reason. Have you noticed the weather's been way colder than usual around here?" he asked. "It snowed in Florida. _Florida_. Since when is there snow in the Sunshine state, in _June_?"

I shook my head. I didn't have much time to think about it, because I heard the conch horn blowing in the distance. The game was starting.

All over the forest I heard the clanking of swords, shouts and battle cries. I walked around the creek, looking for an opening to strike. I saw Thalia advancing on some Aphrodite campers, who were screaming and running away from her shield, except for the save few who were checking their reflections in each other's swords. I swung Riptide in my hand to get a feel for it; I was getting a little restless. I paced the length of the creek in both directions waiting for my chance. Finally, I found an opening.

I charged in, looking for their silver flag. I looked up into the trees. Maybe they hid the flag there. Suddenly, a girl a little younger than I was jumped down from a tree somewhere to my left.

"Gotcha," she said, pointing her sword at me. It was a light blue, cold blade. Immediately I knew what it was made out of: Stygian ice. I'd once been given a dog whistle made of the same substance.

"Remember me?" the girl said. "Hmm, Perseus?" she taunted.

I stopped. The voice was familiar. Under her helmet, "Wait. Avery?" I said.

"That's right," she said. "And I can't let you get our flag, so…" she trailed off, and then swiped at me with her icy sword. I dodged, and took a swipe at her.

"Look," I said. "I don't fight girls, so—"

She didn't let me finish. She stabbed at my armor. I caught her blade with the hilt of my own. I stepped back and tried to go around her, but she sliced at me again. This time I intercepted her in mid-swing, and a cold mist emanated from the contact. I was panting hard, and I breathed in the mist.

The next thing I knew, I was holding my head. My headache had come back, and it was getting worse by the instant. After a few seconds, I thought my head was going to explode. Imagine you're eating an ice cream cone, and you decide to eat it all in one gulp. Now imagine the brain-freeze that would come with that. Imagine the worst migraine you can on top of that. Pretend a truck just ran over your face. You'll still never come close to what I was feeling at that moment.

I remember collapsing to my knees. Then I couldn't breathe. The stinging in my chest had returned. I remember crying out. "What—what's going on? What are you—" I broke off, it feeling like my throat was closing up. This was worse than what had happened at school. _Wait…school…Price…_

"Stop what, Percy?" Avery asked innocently. I felt like I was straining to hear her underwater. My vision was going darker and darker.

"What's going on?" a new voice, coming from even deeper underwater: Thalia?

"Percy?" Annabeth's terrified voice was barely audible.

My eyes were squeezed shut. I couldn't open them; the pain in my head was too terrible. The last thing I remember was Annabeth shouting something like, "Go get Chiron!"

Then, darkness hit me with the force of a thousand trucks.

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><p><strong>Yay! So now I'm going to work on my (hopefully) LAST chapter of <strong>_**Secrets and Sleepovers.**_** I feel so accomplished. You all seem to have loved that one. Thanks so much! Reviews are much appreciated!**

**So about _The Mark of Athena..._first, you can find it at the Heroes of Olympus website. Second, the cover is EPIC! It's pinkish-red, and it shows Jason in a purple shirt on what looks like his storm horse from _The Lost Hero_, sword raised, facing Percy in an orange shirt on what looks like Blackjack, with _his_ sword raised. There are storm clouds around Jason and waves around Percy, and they look like they're about to kill each other... oh and there's an owl in the background.**

**The first chapter is fun. Not telling you what happens, go check it out. But Jason Piper and Leo are definitely back, with Annabeth. And it's starting about a few minutes before _The Son of Neptune _ended.** ***sighs* Sorry. I'm just so excited.** **Anyway, thanks!**

**~Mandi2341**

_**P.S. This message(chapter) has been edited and approved by PixieKindofCrazy. Give Mandi extra reviews for my hijacking ;) -3 Pixie** _


	7. Jessica Goes Out with the Ghost King

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, people. I was super busy, and I was finishing _Secrets & Sleepovers_, and writing one-shots, and songfics…one-shots in the forms of songfics. Bottom line: I finally finished this chapter! I didn't change it up too much from the way it was before, but I just made some adjustments for the sake of accuracy, like making Drew the head counselor (and yeah, I know I said this isn't _Heroes of Olympus_ but there are some elements of _Heroes_ that I'm keeping, but not the actual plot. I don't really like writing what's _going_ to happen). **

**Tell me what you think of this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan.**

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><p>Chapter 7: Jessica Goes out with the Ghost King<p>

_In my dream, I was standing in a dark forest. Snow was falling heavily from the clouds, through the leaves, and onto the ground. It was eerily quiet…not a sound except for the harsh whistling of the wind._

_The cold air stung my eyes and bit into my skin. I shivered, feeling like I couldn't breathe. All I wanted was warmth to come and for the freezing feeling in my chest to go away. And for some reason, I had the feeling something was terribly wrong. The hairs stood on the back of my neck and arms._

_A split second later, I heard it: an ear-piercing shriek of pain. The sound echoed through the whole forest. Unfortunately, I recognized the voice as Annabeth's. I froze for a few seconds, listening. I heard her moan, and that's when I started to run. I called Annabeth's name over and over. I got no responses._

_Finally, after what seemed like forever, I found her. And the sight chilled my blood. Annabeth was lying on her side in the snow, her back to me. Her curly blond hair was covered in icy snowflakes. She was writhing in pain, but it seemed like she was losing strength, which scared me a lot. After a while she became still. The snow was turning dark red around her. I ran straight to her and knelt beside her. I turned her over as gently as I could, so I could see her face. Her eyes were glassy. There was a nasty gash in her side, and by the looks of it, someone had slashed her with a sword and made a deep cut._

_"Percy..." Annabeth whispered, barely moving her lips._

_"Who did this to you?" I asked quietly._

_Annabeth winced. "Percy...don't..." She didn't seem able to finish._

_"Don't what?" I urged._

_"Don't...trust...her..." She whispered with difficulty._

_"Who?" I asked._

_Annabeth grasped my hand. "Just...don't..."_

_She didn't finish. Her eyes rolled back. Her grip on my hand loosened. Her body went limp._

_Once again, the silver Athena shroud with the initials A.C. flashed in and out of my vision. _

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><p>I was jolted awake by a sudden sting in my chest. I was lying in a soft bed inside the Big House. Annabeth was standing over me, wiping the sweat off of my forehead with a cold washcloth.<p>

"Percy." Annabeth let out a breath of relief. "What happened to you out there? We found you shivering on the ground, just like at your school the other day."

I told her about Avery, and her icy sword, and about the mist I'd accidentally inhaled.

Thalia was standing by the door. She was wearing the golden laurels, meaning that her plan of making alliances had worked. "A sword made of Stygian ice?" she asked when I'd finished. "I didn't even know swords like that existed."

"Actually," Annabeth started, "there is one Ancient group of people that do..." She shook her head. "But they're just a myth. They can't possibly exist."

"I said the same thing about the gods. Turns out that Poseidon's my father," I said sarcastically.

Annabeth glared at me. "This is different, Seaweed Brain. This group of people never existed. At least, there was never any real proof. They were just an urban legend." She looked so troubled, and it worried me.

I sat up, too fast. My head started throbbing again, and it made me dizzy. Even so, I manage to drag myself out of the comfortable bed. I placed a hand on the mattress to steady myself.

"Whoa, wait," Thalia said, walking toward me. "Slow down. You sure you can stand yet?"

"Yeah." I nodded, closing my eyes to keep the room from spinning. "I'm going back to my cabin."

"Do you need help?" Annabeth asked.

I shook my head and headed out the door, stumbling only a few times as I made my way back to Cabin Three.

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><p>As I lay in my bunk, I thought about my dream. Something was definitely going to happen to Annabeth, and what I saw in my dream scared me worse than anything I'd ever dreamed of before. I was exhausted, but I was afraid to go to sleep. If I did, I might have that dream about Annabeth again, and I did <em>not<em> want that to happen. I took a deep breath, but exhaling made me cough until my torso was completely sore.

"Are you okay?" a voice whispered. A shadow appeared upside-down in front of my face. I jumped.

"Jessica, don't do that. Please." I sighed.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Jessica asked, climbing down from her bunk and sitting next to me on mine. "You've had that cough since you got here."

"I know," I replied. Thinking about it, I'd had this illness, whatever it was, for five days.

"And it hasn't been getting better," she whispered. "It's been getting worse."

"I know," I said again.

"Have you told Chiron?"

"I was...going to," I admitted, "but...I decided to wait, just to see if I would get better."

"You're not better. Are you going to tell him now?" she asked.

"I will...but not just yet," I said. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Usually, with an illness, you get worse before you get better." I tried to believe my own words, but it was pretty difficult.

Jessica faced me and stared at me for a long time, but I couldn't read her expression in the dark. I doubted that she believed me, but she just nodded. "Well..." she said finally, "I hope you get better soon." She pulled herself back onto her own bunk. I spent the rest of the night with barely an hour of total sleep.

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><p>The next day, everyone was busy asking each other to the dance. It seemed to be an even bigger deal than the Fourth of July fireworks, and everyone was frantic for a date. At lunch, Travis Stoll stood on top of the Hermes cabin and asked an Aphrodite girl with dark, curly hair named Mona. I didn't know her very well, but apparently Travis liked her a lot.<p>

She smiled at him. "Sure, I'll go with you," she answered. The Hermes cabin erupted in cheers.

Travis's brother, Connor, tried to ask Drew Tanaka. She was the new head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin, but she was the exact opposite of Silena Beauregard. Drew was one of those girls who wore way too much makeup and had way too much attitude, and sat staring at her reflection during capture the flag. No one at camp really liked her that much, honestly, but somehow she had this weird way of getting what she wanted, just by asking for it.

Anyway, Connor tried to ask her to the dance. He stood on the bench at his table. "Hey, Drew, wanna go to the dance with me?"

Drew turned at the sound of her name, but after Connor's question, she looked like the last thing in the world that she wanted was to go on a date with him. "Um, sorry," she replied. "You might want to try someone else, honey." That was another thing with Drew. She called everyone "honey." I didn't understand why.

Instead of cheers, there was laughter, and a lot of "Ooo's" and "Ohhh's" around the pavilion. Connor sat down, blushing, and I felt a little embarrassed for him.

Jessica shook her head. "What is that girl's problem?"

I shrugged. I was still feeling pretty awful, and I wasn't really hungry. I just kept circling my plate with my fork, half-heartedly putting food in my mouth every few minutes. I was just so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open. My cough was getting worse and worse, and my head felt heavy, and my stomach was turning, and all I wanted to do was go back to my cabin, climb into bed, and take a nap.

My sister looked concerned, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she asked, "Have _you_ asked _your_ girl yet?"

I frowned. "You mean Annabeth?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I meant me," she said sarcastically. "Yes, Annabeth! Have you asked her yet?"

My frown didn't go away. "I have to, like, _formally_ ask her?"

My half-sister looked at me like I was completely crazy. "Uh, _yeah_," she told me. "No wonder she calls you Seaweed Brain."

Wait…so I had to formally ask my own girlfriend to a dance? That didn't make much sense to me. "Wouldn't it be assumed that Annabeth was going with me, since she's my girlfriend?" I asked Jessica.

She shook her head solemnly. "Nope. You know what they say about assuming: _when you assume, you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me.'_ So get up and go ask her."

I'd never heard that expression in my entire life, and I was a little bit offended by it, but looking over at the Athena table, watching Annabeth laugh with her siblings, then steal a glance at me and wink, I knew I had to ask her formally. Knowing Annabeth, she'd never let it go if I didn't. She'd scared me enough when we _weren't_ dating. Now that we _were_, I couldn't mess that up. "I'll ask her at the campfire tonight," I decided out loud.

Jessica just shook her head. "Cutting it close, dude," she muttered. But she didn't argue too hard.

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><p>At the campfire, I sat next to Jessica. We sang some really cheesy campfire songs and toasting marshmallows and doing your typical campfire stuff. I tried to enjoy it, but I was seriously starting to feel sick. I went into a fit of coughing so bad that I actually started to feel nauseous.<p>

Jessica glanced over at me. "Did you tell Chiron yet?" she asked.

I shook my head, unable to answer verbally because of all the coughing.

"Did you ask Annabeth to the dance yet?"

I shook my head again. Finally the coughing stopped.

"Get up and ask her now."

"Not now."

Jessica stared at me for a second, then stood up. "Excuse me! Excuse me, everyone!" she called out.

The Apollo kids stopped singing. The rest of the campers stopped talking.

"Annabeth Chase!" Jessica called.

Annabeth looked around at everyone, then back at Jessica. "Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"My brother Percy has something he wants to ask you."

I glared at my little sister. But since I was being put on the spot, I had no choice but to stand up. I could feel my cheeks burning. I leaned down and whispered in Jessica's ear, "I'll deal with you later." Then I looked over at Annabeth. "And Annabeth," I said, "Would you..." I trailed off, then took a deep breath and continued. "Would you go to the dance with me?"

It looked like Annabeth blushed, but maybe it was just the firelight. Either way, she smiled and said, "I was waiting for you to ask. Of course I'll go to the dance with you, Seaweed Brain."

I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again as the rest of the camp cheered and whistled. I sat next to Jessica.

"See?" she whispered. "Easy, right?"

"Yup. Just remember that what goes around comes around," I replied.

Jessica smiled and winked at me. The weird thing was, I wasn't mad at her. Despite being almost insufferable, Jessica was a pretty cool thirteen-year-old girl. She was the first person I'd ever met who actually understood what it was like to be a demigod child of Poseidon. Not that I didn't love Tyson. I mean, I'd been through so much with the big guy. But he just wasn't a demigod.

I smiled back at my little sister. She really wasn't as bad as she acted.

"I just have one question," I said to her, "just so I know you're not being hypocritical. Did anyone ask _you_ to the dance?"

Jessica blushed and stared into the flames. "Yeah, so?" she answered quietly.

"So who asked you?"

She kept her eyes on the campfire. She didn't say a word.

I nudged her with my shoulder. "Come on," I urged.

Jessica flipped her blond and blue-streaked hair out of her face. "You really want to know?" she whispered.

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know."

"Fine." She looked at me with those sea-green eyes. Her irises looked gold in the firelight. I wondered, off-hand, if my eyes looked the same to her right then. "I was asked to the dance by..." She trailed off, looking away from me.

"Who?" I asked once more.

Jessica gave a little smile. "That Son of Hades, Nico di Angelo."

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><p><strong>Yup. I paired Nico with an OC. Why not? Everyone deserves someone. And I love Nico. This was really just a filler chapter with a sprinkle of obvious foreshadowing. I hope you liked it! More exciting stuff is coming up! And I don't have <em>Secrets <em>to work on anymore, so I promise a faster update. I _don't _promise that update in the next week, though…sorry. I'm too busy next week. But as soon as I _can_ work on it, I'll update.**

**By the way, Drew's last name really is Tanaka. She's in _Kane Chronicles_ and her last name was mentioned. So I didn't make that up. Just so you know.**

**Um…yeah. Oh yeah, and I'm probably going to be working on my _Valentine's Day at Camp Jupiter_ with PixieKindOfCrazy…but I am not sure when I'll be updating that, because both of us are pretty busy. I like that story a lot, so I really want to work on it. But for now, I'll try to work on this one a little more.**

**Thanks so much for your love and patience!**

**Reviews are very nice and make me smile :)**

**~Mandi2341**


	8. I Smash a Statue

**Author's Note: Hi, people! I'm back, updating this story. I decided to sit in front of my computer for three hours straight because, well…I just wanted to get this out of the way, because I didn't have much to change in it. **

**But guys…there was a grand total of ONE review last time I updated! So thanks candycrazy12346 for your review! Awww, did the rest of you guys not like that chapter? Then I apologize. I promise this one's more exciting.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I didn't have the genius idea of creating Percy Jackson.**

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><p>Chapter 8: I Smash a Statue<p>

I wasn't sure how I felt about Nico asking Jessica to the dance. I mean, I didn't have a _problem_ with it, but…I guess it just felt awkward, since Jessica was my little sister. When I asked Jessica why she chose Nico, she just blushed and looked away. I suppose I was a little happy for Nico, though. He never struck me as the type who really wanted a girlfriend, or was looking for one. It was kind of nice to see that he'd found someone that he liked in a romantic way…it was just weird to think that that _someone_ was my sister.

That night when we were getting ready for bed, Jessica looked me over. She frowned when I started coughing again. "Are you sure you can go to the dance, Percy?" she asked me.

I nodded, though honestly, I wasn't one-hundred-percent sure. I could barely stay on my feet for an hour. My training was suffering; anyone could see that I wasn't as fast or strong as I had been before I had gotten sick.

"I'm guessing that you haven't told Chiron yet, have you?"

I shook my head.

"You're not getting better, Percy," she told me. "You're coughing all the time. You wince a lot like you're in pain. You're getting worse, Percy."

"I know," I said hoarsely. "And I'll tell him. Soon."

Jessica gave me one last look of a mix of frustration and concern before going to sleep.

I decided to hang around the beach for a while that night. Usually the sea calms me down, helps me clear my head, and makes me feel safe. I always know that my dad was protecting me with the sea by giving me power to control it, but truthfully, I didn't feel protected. I felt vulnerable, even with the curse of Achilles. I remembered when I fell from my pegasus, and the sea didn't catch me, like it should have. I felt like Poseidon wasn't doing his job. If he were in charge of the sea, he shouldn't have let it freeze over.

"_The sea does not like to be restrained_," he'd told when I'd first met him. Somehow, someone forced it into restraint by freezing it. For the first time, I felt very worried, not just about myself, but for my father, for the marine life that would freeze in these unnaturally cold temperatures, and for the marine mammals that needed air, but were trapped underwater. And especially for all of the people who would be affected if this went any further.

And what about Price, and those girls who were trying to kill me? What were they doing to me? It was hard to think clearly. The cold air was painful to inhale. My cough _was _getting worse. It felt like ice was coating my airway. I thought about the other dreams about Annabeth lying in the snow, bleeding to death, telling me not to trust "her." I tried to concentrate on who "she" could possibly be. Maybe the girl who wore the blanket in my dream. She was a camper, as I remember. Which camper, I wasn't sure, though.

Then my mind flashed to a much earlier dream—the blond girl in the forest with the bow and arrow. The blond girl who looked exactly like Jessica…who I was sure _was_ Jessica. Maybe she's whom Annabeth meant…

I groaned in frustration, running my fingers through my hair and letting myself fall backward onto to snowy sand. My mind was so jumbled up with all sorts of morbid thoughts; I wanted to scream. A group of people wanted me dead. I keep dreaming that Annabeth was also going to die, seeing her broken form in front of me in the snow, and watching her burial shroud float in the wind. And my sister is going to shoot someone with an arrow.

Part of me knew that I had to tell Chiron. At this point, I wasn't sure what was keeping me from marching to the Big House and confiding everything in him. He'd know what to do. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

As I walked back to my cabin to get some sleep, I tried to convince myself that I would get better...but I wasn't so sure anymore.

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><p>The next evening after dinner, Jessica and I found a surprise in our cabin: new clothes. On my bunk there was a new deep-green dress shirt, dark blue denim jeans, and black Converse sneakers. Jessica had a pretty blue and green dress where the colors faded and shimmered, like the sea.<p>

Jessica held her dress to her face and smiled. "It smells like the ocean," she murmured.

And she was right. I couldn't help shake my head and smile a little bit as well. "Probably from Poseidon," I guessed. I smirked. I found it ironic that I'd be getting new clothes from my father. No offense, but in his Hawaiian T-shirts and Bermuda shorts, he wasn't the best dresser I'd ever met.

The Aphrodite kids insisted on helping the rest of us get ready. Under normal circumstances, I could've cared less abut how I looked, but I was going arm-in-arm with Annabeth, and I didn't feel like getting punched in the gut for being underdressed.

When Jessica came back from being pampered by the Aphrodite girls, she looked pretty cute. Her hair had a new streak of cerulean and was slightly curled, pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore her turquoise bracelet on her arm. When she saw me, she raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Looking good, _mon frère_."

"How are you so fluent in French, anyway?" I asked, trying to make my hair a little more decent and a little less like a shaggy black mess. "I mean, I can barely read any English, let alone trying to learn another language."

"My mom's from France. She moved to New York, and then to Louisiana a year before I was born. She met my dad there. _Our _dad, I mean," she added quickly. "And learning a language doesn't always have to involve reading and writing. I learned French at the same time I learned English. My mom likes to switch between the two. So I'm fluent in both. _Et le français est une très belle langue._"

When she saw my confused face, she translated, "French is a beautiful language." She laughed. "Speaking of beautiful, are you ready to meet your Wise Girl?" she asked teasingly.

"Only if you're ready to meet your Ghost King," I teased back.

She smiled. "I'm definitely ready."

I smirked at her enthusiasm. "The what are we waiting for?" I said.

* * *

><p>Nico came over dressed in his usual black jeans and black converse sneakers. The only thing different was that he was wearing a black dress shirt and no aviator jacket. When he saw Jessica, he blushed. "Wow," her muttered.<p>

Jessica smiled coyly. "Hey, Nico," she said, her cheeks reddening as well.

"You look...great," Nico said, smiling. Then he glanced at me. He cleared his throat. "Um...anyway," he said quickly, "let's get going, shall we?"

"Sure," Jessica replied. "That way we can leave Percy to his blond beauty, Annabeth."

I narrowed my eyes at the taunt. "Shut up," I told her.

Jessica laughed. I'll admit—she did look adorable when she laughed. I just wished she would _act_ more adorable sometimes. As she turned around, her hair spinning around her shoulders, I was suddenly reminded of my dream—the little girl sobbing a bow and arrow, and apologizing to someone. I was positive that it was Jessica. Chills ran up my spine. But I was forced to stop thinking about it, because Annabeth showed up.

When I saw her, all I could say was, "Whoa."

Annabeth was wearing a strapless silver dress that stopped just above her knees. Her blond curls had been straightened out, so her hair looked even looked even longer, falling almost to her waist in a honey-blond waterfall. She was wearing a small amount of make-up—just enough to make her gray eyes sparkle.

In a word, she was gorgeous.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," she smiled. She looked me up and down. "You look nice. I just wish it wasn't a one-time thing, though."

I made a face. "I was just about to same the same to you," I replied.

"Are you implying that I'm a bad dresser?"

"Are you implying that _I'm_ a bad dresser?"

Annabeth shrugged. As she moved, her dress shimmered. With another sudden chill, I remembered the silver Athena shroud with the initials A.C.

"Percy?"

I snapped back to reality. Annabeth was staring at me with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?" she asked me.

I looked at her. Right then, with her silver dress, perfect make-up, and blond hair flowing down her back, she looked like an immortal goddess. We'd had a lot of close calls, Annabeth and I. But we've always managed to make it out alive. Especially now, as Annabeth looked so much like a goddess, I could never imagine her dying. Still, my vision of the silver burial shroud...

"Percy, you look pale," Annabeth said.

I turned to her and assured her that I was all right, giving her a brave smile.

Annabeth frowned at me, like she wanted to argue, but he just took my hand. "Just be careful, okay?"

I snorted. "Careful ins my middle name."

She smiled, and we went to the dining pavilion hand-in-hand.

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><p>The pavilion was set up for a dance. All of the tables had been moved out of the pavilion. There were banners lining the edge of the pavilion, each with the symbol of a different Olympian god: Zeus's lightning bolt, my father's trident, Athena's silver owl. Small braziers gave off a dim light. What caught my attention, though, were the ice sculptures of the Greek gods all around us. I glanced at the statue of my dad and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest, like someone had twisted my heart. Unconsciously I squeezed Annabeth's hand and winced.<p>

"What is it?" she asked urgently.

I took a deep breath, the pain subsiding. "Nothing," I muttered.

As the night wore on, the Apollo kids were the DJ's and played a bunch of songs dedicated to each cabin, like "Fly" for the Zeus cabin, "Glamorous" for the Aphrodite cabin, and believe it or not, "Under the Sea" for my cabin. I even heard "Single Ladies" for the Hunters, which made everyone laugh.

A few dance songs came up, where the lyrics taught you how to dance: the 2-Step, the Cupid Shuffle, and everyone's favorite—the Cha-Cha slide. Jessica was surprisingly good at the 2-Step, but there was no way I was going to make my feet move that fast. The Cupid Shuffle was easy to learn: just four steps to the right, then left, then kick out four times, and walk it out. The Cha-Cha Slide was fun, especially having Annabeth teach me how to cha-cha.

But about two hours in, I wasn't feeling well, didn't want to dance anymore. So the senior counselors, as well as Jessica, Avery, Grover, and Rachel, gathered in a corner and talked.

Suddenly the room grew colder. I shivered and started coughing.

"Here we go again," Jessica sighed.

Thalia frowned at me. "You look awful," she pointed out.

_Thanks_, I thought, still unable to speak.

I saw her shoot a glance at Avery, who looked back innocently.

Rachel glanced at Avery as well, and I swear I saw her narrow her eyes, like she was either glaring or thinking.

Avery smiled at me. "Do you like my statues, Percy?" she asked. "I made them myself. Took me all week, but I think I finally got them perfect."

My coughing continued, so I couldn't answer her.

Rachel narrowed her eyes even more. "How'd you make them?" she asked warily. I got the feeling she knew the answer before she asked the question. She was the Oracle, after all.

Avery glared at my friend. "Why does it matter, mortal?" she spat.

Rachel looked offended. She inhaled deeply, controlling her temper. "It doesn't," she replied coldly.

A slow song came on. Couples started getting up to dance. Finally, I was able to stop coughing. I turned to Annabeth. "Um..." I started. "Do you want to…?" I wasn't that comfortable asking girls to dance with me, even if said girl was my girlfriend.

"Dance?" Annabeth finished with a smirk. "Sure."

We got up and walked over to an area of the dance floor next to the ice statue of Poseidon. Annabeth put her hands around my neck, and I put my hands on her waist. We swayed slowly back and forth, and it all felt perfect.

Annabeth rested her head on my shoulder. "This is nice," she mumbled.

I nodded. Her hair was very soft, and it smelled nice. Her skin was warm. I found myself holding her closer and tighter. I wanted to stay like this forever.

Too bad I wasn't able to stay that way forever, because just then, Grover grabbed my shoulders from behind me. Annabeth jumped back in surprise.

"Hey!" Grover said, laughing.

I stumbled back in pure shock. Then my back hit something, and I heard a crash. I looked over my shoulder to see that I'd knocked over the statue of my father. Small pieces of ice were everywhere. "Grover," I groaned.

Grover's face was pale. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly. "I was just..."

I'm not sure what he said after that, because Rachel shouted, "Don't breathe in that mist! Whatever you do, keep your mouth and nose covered!"

Then, I felt really, really cold. All of the sounds around me started to blend together. So did everything else. My head was spinning, and my stomach was doing somersaults. I could feel my forehead breaking out in a freezing-cold sweat. My legs buckled underneath me. Someone caught me. I heard a girl's voice: "Percy! What's wrong? Percy, can you hear me?"

Then, I passed out. Again.

* * *

><p><strong>So how was that? Hopefully better than last time? Please tell me what you think about this story, you guys. Your feedback is actually helpful, believe it or not. Your reviews are so encouraging! More reviews = faster update, I promise! (And those of you who have author alerted me, this was pretty fast, you have to admit).<strong>

**I'm still working on the Jason story. I'm just kind of stuck right now on that. And you guys have been wonderful about the Sally one-shots! Please continue your awesomeness and leave a review! Pretty please with a cherry on top? :3**

**Thanks so much, guys!**

**~Mandi2341**


	9. We Start a New Quest

**Author's Note: Hi, lovely people! You guys made me feel so happy with your reviews. And as promised, I have a new chapter for you guys. This is the fastest I've ever updated in my life. Two days! I think this is where I stopped the last time I wrote this story, so now I have to actually come up with ideas that aren't already on my computer. But I have it planned out, for the most part.**

**Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Now, I have this chapter for you. We're now getting to the actual quest! I'm excited about writing that part of the story! **

**Disclaimer: My initials aren't R.R., so how can I possibly be Rick Riordan?**

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><p>Chapter 9: We Start Another Quest<p>

Thankfully, no dreams came with unconsciousness this time. I woke up in the Big House sickroom, again. I tried to remember what had happened...the ice statue, the cold mist. Something about Avery's expression when she'd asked if I'd liked her statue...it had seemed almost like she was mocking me. Then the way she looked at me like I had wronged her in some way. Like I was her enemy.

All of this was running through my head when I realized that Chiron, Jessica, and Annabeth were in the room with me. It sounded like Annabeth was arguing with the centaur about something. "Chiron, this can't possibly be happening," I heard her say.

"We were careless not to see this sooner," Chiron replied.

"I think Percy was careless not to _tell_ anyone sooner," Jessica said.

I sat up. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Chiron was in wheelchair form. He rolled over to my bedside and looked at me sternly. "Percy," he said, "Do you realize the severity of your situation?"

I blushed. Now I was really regretting my decision to keep Chiron in the dark about this. What was I supposed to say: _Yes, I did understand it, but I didn't want to tell you about it just yet. I thought it might have gone away on its own_? So I kept my mouth shut and stared at my hands in my lap.

Annabeth was giving me her signature glare. I noticed her hair was turning curly again. Her eyes were the color of thunderclouds. "Percy, you said you were going to tell Chiron!"

"Tell me what?" Chiron asked, frowning.

Annabeth sighed, looking completely unhinged. I felt terrible for making her worry about me. And I felt worse for having kept such a big secret from Chiron, whom I could trust with my life. So I told him about Price breathing mist on me, and the woman's face in the clouds, and the two girls on Half-Blood Hill. Annabeth seemed to have already explained the situations about Avery at capture the flag and the dance.

While I talked, Nico, Thalia, and Grover walked into the room together, listening with furrowed brows. Grover was holding a plastic cup in his hand and was nervously biting off bits of it. Nico stared at the floor, and Thalia stared at me, twisting her silver bracelet around her wrist. With every sentence, Annabeth seemed to lose her cool a little more. Chiron just stared at me intently, listening to every word that came out of my mouth.

When I finished, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "This is worse than I'd feared," he muttered.

"What?" I asked. "What's going on? Do you know who these girls are?"

Annabeth sat next to me on the bed and took a deep breath. "Percy," she said. "Remember when you told me that Avery's sword was made of Stygian ice? And I told you that only one group of people used Stygian ice to make weapons?"

I nodded, getting more worried.

"Well, apparently they're real," she told me. "They were an ancient civilization that worshipped the goddess Khione. _That's_ the family those girls meant. And the fact that you breathed in their mist is very, very bad."

"Who's Khione?" I asked, feeling dumb as usual.

Chiron explained. "Khione is the daughter of Boreas, the North Wind. She is the goddess of snow."

I frowned. "Then will you tell me why it's bad that I inhaled their mist?" Although…as I asked the question, I felt a surge of dread wash over me. I had the feeling I was going to find out what was wrong with me, and the news wouldn't be pretty.

Annabeth took a deep breath and sat down next to me. "Percy," she started shakily, "their mist is one of the most powerful substances in the world. It freezes everything and anything it comes into contact with."

"Which is how they froze the oceans, although one may think that it would be an impossible feat," Chiron added.

"And how they've made it snow all over the country, even in the warmest places, in _June_," Annabeth said.

My heart leaped into my throat. "And?" I asked, dragging out the word in my nervousness.

"And since you breathed the mist in," Annabeth continued, "it made contact with your throat and lungs. It was bad enough that this would happen once, but _three times_, Percy?" she said, raising her voice. "Their mist generates ice that builds upon itself, forming a layer that's almost impossible to melt."

My spine tingled. "So...you're saying that..." I couldn't finish the thought.

"Ice is forming in your lungs, Percy," Annabeth concluded. "And you're lucky that you're half-god. A regular mortal would never have been able to withstand this for more than more than twenty-four hours. But you've gone a week and you're still alive." She shook her head, muttering to herself, "I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner."

My mind was reeling. All of this information was jumbling up in my head. It was hard to comprehend. I thought about the last day of school, how Mr. Price had breathed the mist on me, and I'd inhaled it. Then I remembered the horrible pain that followed. _That's_ how the girls were going to kill me. I would die a horribly slow death that ended in excrutatingly painful suffocation. Even as I thought about it, my chest stung. I winced, putting a hand over my heart, which I noticed was beating too hard, trying to pump freezing blood. "So...what do I do?" I asked. "How do I get better?"

Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair and sighed. "I would hate to send you out of here in your condition," he said, "But the only way to ensure your recovery is for you to undertake a quest."

"Chiron's right," Annabeth said. "The only way to reverse your condition is to destroy the one who cursed you, in your case, Mr. Price. But you have to do it immediately. You've already been sick for a week. At most, you have days, maybe another week. Otherwise, you'll just get worse and worse until..." She didn't finish the thought, but it was pretty understandable.

I felt cold, and I don't think it had anything to do with the ice in my lungs. "Those girls knew," I said, barely recognizing my own voice. "They knew that it would come to that. That's why they wanted me dead before I found out."

Chiron nodded solemnly. "Although I don't know their motives, you're correct. They, and Price, probably knew they wouldn't be able to fight you, because you bear the curse of Achilles—"

"And they're trying to destroy you from the inside," Annabeth supplied.

I let that sink in. "So this quest...what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?"

Chiron glanced toward a corner of the room and said, "I think those questions would best be answered by our Oracle."

Rachel came into the room quickly, like she'd been caught off-guard. She'd probably just come in. "Oh, me?" When Chiron nodded, her expression looked pained. "Alright," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and swayed like she was about to collapse. Annabeth ran to her and held her shoulders. Then, when Rachel opened her eyes again, they were glowing bright green. I shuddered. I'd never really gotten over the Oracle's prophecies. They always freaked me out.

Rachel began to speak, her voice tripled:

"_You shall travel to the land of midnight sun,_

_You shall be accompanied by five, betrayed by one._

_Most powerful half-bloods with you shall go,_

_The sword of surprise strikes the final blow._

_Beware the journey's tragic end—_

_The one you love shall die with a friend._"

Rachel opened her eyes after the last word. The glow had disappeared. But the echo of her words still lingered in my mind. I don't think there was one line that hadn't bothered me.

"Percy?" Annabeth said. "You okay?"

I wasn't so sure. Someone was going to betray me on this quest. And '_The one you love shall die' _? How many times had I heard that this week?

But I nodded in response to Annabeth's question.

Chiron's face was grim. "Well, choose your five companions, Percy," he told me.

I glanced at Annabeth, and an understanding passed between us. She would definitely be coming with me.

"I'll come." Jessica spoke for the first time since she'd called me careless.

I frowned at her. "No," I said flatly.

"Why not?" she asked me. "You told me you were twelve on your first quest. I'm almost fourteen. I think I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"But it'll be too dangerous," I told her. "You can't go."

"Who are you, my mom?" Jessica glared at me. "I'm going to go. You heard the prophecy: _'Most powerful demigods with you shall go.'_ I'm the daughter of Poseidon. I think I qualify as a 'powerful demigod.'" She made air quotes with her fingers.

I don't know why I was being overprotective. I guess it was an older brother thing. I remembered how I thought I'd lost Tyson in the Sea of Monsters, and how worried I was when Tyson was missing in the Labyrinth with Grover a few years ago.

I opened my mouth to argue again, but she cut me off real fast. "Look, stop protesting," she said. "The prophecy says you need five to go with you on the quest. I'm volunteering. Take my help. I'm your sister. I even have a weapon. Who's better to go with you than me?"

I glared at her for a few second, but decided better than to keep arguing with her. After all, she was a good fighter, she was my sister, and she did have a weapon: her magic bow and arrows. But suddenly, I was seriously uneasy about her coming on the quest, and it wasn't overprotectiveness anymore. As soon as she mentioned her weapon, I thought about my dream of the girl with the bow and arrow, crouching behind trees in the forest, tears running down her cheeks, taking aim at an unseen target.

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><p><strong>I'm going to go work on the next chapter now. This is so much fun to write! I started this story before <em>Secrets &amp; Sleepovers<em>, if you guys remember that story. And for some reason, it's taken me three years to get past this point. *sigh* but I'm finally moving past it.**

**You guys have been great with the reviews this time. And I want to apologize for the whiny author's note last chapter. I was tired, and kind of discouraged by the lack of reviews. But that'll happen sometimes, right? **

**By the way, how did I do on the prophecy? I'm no poet, I know. I was just looking for words to rhyme, and it wouldn't rhyme. Then it DID rhyme, but the rhythm was off...I don't know. Tell me what you think of it. Hahahaha!**

**See the box at the bottom? That's where your review goes! :)**

**Thanks so much, **

**~Mandi2341**


	10. We Meet an Old Enemy

**Author's Note: Hey, people! Thank you so much for your patience. School is keeping me from writing. And I have so many things that I want to write. So…yeah.**

**There's something I want to address. I saw lots of you like to try and guess what I'm thinking for this story, huh? Well, guess what? No one hit the nail on the head just yet. And no, I'm not saying who was close, or who was completely off. Really, all of you guys are off. So if you don't mind…stop guessing. Please. Thank you.**

**This chapter…hmm. I don't know. I beta-ed it as best as I could, but my betas are currently unavailable. School has them, too, unfortunately.**

**Anyway…cool. So. I'm not Rick Riordan. I haven't mastered the art of cliffhanging just yet.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 11: We Meet an Old Enemy<p>

Chiron frowned at Jessica and me, looking back and forth between us. He frowned, like he was trying to figure out my thoughts through my expression.

Finally I sighed. "Fine," I told Jessica, even though I was apprehensive about it.

Thalia smiled at me. "You know I'm coming with you, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Most powerful half-bloods? That's got to be Nico and me, too." Nico smirked and nodded.

Grover patted me on the shoulder. "I'm coming, too."

I couldn't help but smile. Grover came with me on my first quest. He's been my best friend since Yancy Academy. It only seemed right that he came along. "Good," I said. "So that's five."

Chiron still looked very concerned. "This will be a dangerous quest," he warned us. "The children of each of the Big Three will attract a lot of unwanted attention, from monsters as well as gods. And as awful as it sounds, it seems that the prophecy predicts at least two deaths on this quest."

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Annabeth turn to look at me. I couldn't look back at her, or else I might've had a panic attack. _Annabeth can't die,_ I thought. _She can't. She won't. I won't let that happen._ But the more I tried to tell myself that, the more I saw that silver shroud with her initials on it.

Annabeth said, "It might not mean that _both_ people die, Chiron. Maybe it means that he or she might die in the company of a friend." I felt her arm wrap around my shoulder. When I looked up, she gave me a reassuring smile. I tried to return it, but even I knew mine wasn't very convincing.

"How about that line, '_accompanied by five, betrayed by one_'?" Nico asked. "Does that mean, one within the five, or one outside of the five?"

I shuddered to think that any one of these five would betray me. I was getting a little frustrated. "Well, instead of interpreting all of the depressing lines," I cut in, "why don't we focus something else, like, 'the land of midnight sun.' Where's that?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow at me. Annabeth did, too. That's when I knew I had asked another stupid question. Seriously, maybe I should start writing them down or something. Annabeth said, "The land of midnight sun? That would be Alaska."

Great. Alaska. Why couldn't there ever be a quest that went to, like, I don't know…Boston or something? Why did it always have to take us to the other side of the country? Or in this case, to the other side of the country, and through _another_ country? Would I even make it all the way to Alaska in my condition? I shook that thought out of my head. I couldn't afford to think like that. There was too much at stake.

"What happens if…I don't make it to Alaska?" I asked anyway. "I mean, other than the obvious 'I'll die,' answer."

Chiron looked at Annabeth. Both of their expressions were so pained. Finally, after about ten full seconds of silence, Annabeth said, "They'll take over."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth took a deep breath. "From the looks of things, and from what you've said from your dream…it sounds like this family's going to freeze everything. Send the world into another Ice Age. And the only thing stopping them is you."

So there was even more at stake than I thought. If I didn't stop this…I would doom the entire planet. Excellent.

All of us just sat in silence for a few minutes, letting all of this sink in. I was starting to feel dizzy again, just when Chiron dismissed us. "You all leave at dawn tomorrow morning," he told us. "The sooner the better. Try to get a good night's rest."

When Jessica and I got back to our cabin, she immediately went off on me. "I told you to tell Chiron sooner!" she nearly yelled. "But no, you had to wait for it to get _this bad_. You do realize that you could _die_, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Gee, Jessica," I said sarcastically, "I didn't think about that." In spite of myself, I fell into another terrible coughing fit. In fact, this on was so bad, I ended up doubling over, trying to keep myself from vomiting.

Jessica rushed over to me. "Percy!" The irritation had disappeared from her tone and worry had quickly replaced it. "Can you talk?"

I took a very deep, shaky breath. There were dark spots dancing in front of my eyes. My ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, and I was sure my chest was caving in. _Don't black out, Percy. Don't black out._ I had to sit on my bed and bury my face in my hands to keep the room from spinning any faster.

Jessica murmured, "This isn't good, Percy. Maybe we should go tonight. The sooner the better, right?"

I shook my head, clearing my throat. "No," I said, my voice cracking. "Chiron's right; we need sleep. I can testify to that."

My little sister looked at me with an expression halfway between pity and panic. But she eventually nodded. "Alright," she said. "Good night."

"'Night," I whispered.

As I lay in my bunk that night, all I could see in my dreams was Annabeth's bloody figure wrapped in a silver shroud. I couldn't stop shivering all night.

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><p>I stood next to the van, shivering violently. Snow flurries stung my face. It was winter in June. Whoever was doing this was obviously super powerful; this was the power of an immortal. It had to have been that goddess of snow, Khione. She was doing this. But why? Gods do crazy things all the time…and usually it means they've got a bone to pick with someone.<p>

Breathing in the cold air hurt my throat, and I began to cough. Argus looked at me, concern apparent in his one hundred eyes. I smiled briefly to let him know I was okay. He didn't look very convinced.

Jessica shifted her bracelet around her wrist. Thalia, Nico, and Grover walked down the hill together. Nico smiled at my half-sister, who smiled back. I stood there shivering and trying not to feel awkward.

Annabeth was the last to arrive. She was scowling in her gray North Face jacket, hands jammed into her pockets. She studied my face, and her expression turned to concern. Caressing my cheek, she murmured, "Percy, you look awful."

I sighed. "I know," I admitted. "I feel worse than I look, trust me."

A cold wind picked up, tossing our hair. Thalia tucked her hands under her arms to keep from shivering. I went into another painful fit of coughing, covering my mouth with my elbow. After I was able to breathe again, I looked up and noticed everyone giving me nervous looks. Thalia frowned. "You going to be okay?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I have to be, don't I?" With that, I got into the van with my friends, off to start _another_ quest.

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><p>After we were dropped off at the bus terminal, we wondered what our next step would be. Annabeth, Grover, and I were a little reluctant to take a bus, after meeting the Furies on our very first quest together.<p>

"What about going to Grand Central Station?" Thalia suggested.

That didn't sound like a bad idea to me, but Annabeth shook her head. "The tracks are frozen," she said.

"How is that possible?" I asked. "Trains are running all the time. The electricity would heat the ice and melt it."

"Check this out," Jessica said, pointing to a newspaper stand. My dyslexia prevented me from reading it properly, but I made out words eventually. The title read: FREAK WEATHER CAUSES DEADLY TRAIN WRECK. Grover read the article to us. Apparently, according to the mortal investigators, on the night of June eleventh, temperatures had mysteriously dropped below freezing. Sleet had fallen and frozen onto the train tracks. The Amtrak had slid and fallen its tracks, killing all but three passengers, who were in critical condition.

"Why would someone do something so awful?" Jessica muttered.

Thalia shrugged, readjusting her backpack on her shoulders. "Welcome to the world of the gods, Jessica," she replied. "Someone's upset, so they're taking out on the mortals." She shook her head in disgust.

Annabeth looked at me. "It has to be Khione and those girls," she said.

I nodded. She was definitely right. I could feel it. As a matter of fact, I was starting to get even colder. My fingertips were turning purple, so I clenched my fists and stuffed them in my pockets. "Well, then," I said, "we might as well try a bus. At least as far as New Jersey."

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><p>The roads were treacherous. Our bus driver refused to go faster than thirty-five, it was so icy. I watched the snow-covered trees roll by. I wondered what the mortals thought about this freak snowstorm. This was something way too big for the Mist to cover up. And snow in June could <em>not<em> be going well with the mortals.

My thoughts wandered until I suddenly felt a cold throb in my chest. Have you ever played in the snow without gloves, or run your hand under ice-cold water for a long time? Remember that throbbing pain, that feeling like your blood was freezing in your veins. Now imagine that pain not in your hands, but in your heart.

I gasped, momentarily seeing dark spots dance across my vision.

Annabeth looked at me, her eyes scared. "Percy? What is it?"

For a few seconds, I couldn't answer. Breathing was impossible without a stab of pain, but finally I was able to pull myself together.

"It's hurting, isn't it?" Annabeth murmured.

"I'm fine," I insisted.

"You are _not_ fine, Percy," she said, glaring at me. "You're sick. And—"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by my half-sister doing something completely unexpected. She stood up and pulled the cable over her head.

The bus driver stopped and looked into the rearview mirror. "Someone need to get off?" he asked.

Jessica picked up her backpack and motioned for the rest of us to get up. "We do," she told the driver. Turning to the rest of us, she said, "Come on. We're leaving now."

Nico frowned. "Why?" he asked.

Jessica didn't answer. She just hurriedly left the bus, not even waiting to check if we were following or not.

Annabeth frowned and looked at me, her expression asking, _What's with her?_ I shrugged, but I took her hand, and we followed Jessica outside. Grover, Thalia, and Nico did the same. What choice did we have? We couldn't just let her wander off by herself.

We were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and woods on one side, and a long road stretching for miles on the other.

"Why'd we get off?" I demanded.

Jessica said, "I thought I saw something." Her voice sounded nervous.

"What did you see?" I asked.

"Just…it might have been nothing…I just felt like we needed to get off." She glanced down the road where the bus had driven off.

A sharp wind blew, stinging my face. I exhaled slowly, and my breath fogged up. I tucked my hands under my arms to keep them warm; I could feel my fingers turning blue. I started coughing again, but quickly smothered it when I saw the worry on my friends' faces. "Well," I decided, "we can't just stand around in the cold like this. Let's find a place to warm up."

* * *

><p>It turned out that we were near a small New Jersey town that was only a few miles away. Off of the exit, we found a gas station and a CVS. It was dusk, but all of the lights were off. I found that strange, and over the years, I'd learned to trust my gut instinct. But at the moment, I was more concerned about the lack of oxygen to my lungs due to the ice coating my windpipe.<p>

Jessica studied me with concern. "You look ready to pass out," she said.

I _felt_ ready to pass out, but I was managing to stay on my feet. "I'll be fine," I told her.

"Maybe we could get you some medicine or something?" she offered.

Nico frowned. "Would mortal medicine even work in a case like this?" he asked. I was thinking the same thing.

Annabeth shrugged. "It could only help," she said. "Might as well try."

"Come on, then." Jessica pulled me toward the CVS. "Be right back," she called over her shoulder."

I didn't think the door would be unlocked, but it was. As soon as we set foot inside the pharmacy, a light turned on near the cashier table. I kept a hand in my pocket in case I need Riptide. Jessica seemed a little more comfortable…or naïve.

A woman emerged from behind the counter. She wore the white coat of a pharmacist, but a headscarf and sunglasses. I tensed. Why would a pharmacist wear sunglasses indoors? At night? It didn't make sense to me, so I was wary. But my head felt clouded again. I tried to keep my vision straight…but right then, everything was curving, for some reason.

"Hello, children!" she called. Her voice sounded familiar…where had I heard it? "What can I help you with?"

Jessica pulled my over to her. "Um, hi," she started. "We were wondering if you had any medicine. My brother's pretty sick here."

The woman looked me over critically. "Yes," she murmured. "Yes, he doesn't look well at all, poor thing." She took my face in her hands and tilted my chin up. My skin tingled. Why was I super uncomfortable having this woman touching me? But I couldn't think on it too much, because I felt like my hearing was going again. Now I could here this weird hiss, almost like someone shushing harshly. The woman said, "Yes, I can see it in his eyes. Very dazed, like he has a fever."

I took a step away from her.

"So…" Jessica said, "can you fix him up with some medicine?"

The woman was looking back and forth between us. "Did you say you were brother and sister?" she asked.

We glanced at each other, and nodded carefully.

She smiled. "You two have the same beautiful eyes," she told us.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks? Now, the medicine?"

The pharmacist nodded. "Of course," she said. "But first, I must check his vision, to make sure this isn't something too serious."

_Whoops, too late for that,_ I thought to myself. But when she came around the desk to look at me, I felt like the strange noise in my ears increased. I pressed a hand to my ear, just to determine whether the noise was real or part of the delirium I seemed to be currently suffering from.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked me. "Does your ear hurt?"

I put my hand down and shook my head.

"That's good." She came closer to me. "Your eyes…" she murmured. "I once knew a young man with eyes just like yours."

"Really?" Jessica piped up.

The woman nodded. "Yes. He was sweet, but his friends were not very nice at all. They hurt me, and convinced him to hurt me, too."

Jessica frowned. "That's terrible," she said.

The woman sighed. "Yes, it was. They stole from me afterward, to add insult to injury. I was devastated, of course. I never thought I'd see eyes like those again." She looked at me more closely, her hands on her sunglasses, as if she were about to lower them to get a better look. That noise was even louder now…almost like…

_Wait. Hissing? Headscarf? Sunglasses? In New Jersey?_ _ And a kid with eyes just like mine? How familiar did that story sound?_ On an impulse I pulled Jessica's arm. "We should get out of here," I told her.

"Why?" she asked. "We need to get you medicine."

"We can get it somewhere else," I told her. "Now let's go!" Without waiting for her response I dragged to her to the exit. I pushed the door open, but it immediately slammed shut.

"Where are you going in such a terrible condition?" the pharmacist sneered behind us. "I can't let a sick child walk out into the cold like that."

The hissing was definitely louder now. Why did I have to be right this one time? I'm almost never right. But I had a hunch that all of the monsters I'd killed would want revenge sooner or later. I had been hoping she'd stay dead a few more years, or decades, or centuries. But of course not. Just my luck.

I whispered into Jessica's ear, "Whatever you do, do _not_ look at her."

Her eyes widened with panic. She was still staring outside the door, like she longed to run outside and away from there. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" she whimpered.

I looked at where she was staring, but I couldn't see outside. It was dark now, and all I could see were our own reflections, as well as the monster in the background. Then I realized that that was exactly what she meant. "Are you seeing Medusa?" I asked quietly.

She nodded once.

"Then yes."

No more words, just more staring into the window.

I heard, "Come, Percy. You're not well. Let me care for you."

"Care for me how?" I answered.

"You're in pain," she murmured. "I can take it away—just like that." She snapped her fingers on the last word.

Medusa's voice was soothing, but I knew it only took a glance to for her to turn me to stone. I noticed Jessica tugging on her bracelet, like she was about to turn it into a bow and arrow. We glanced at each other, and there seemed to be some kind of understanding between us. But this was going to have to be perfectly timed, with a little bit of luck…or possibly all the luck in the world. We really would only have one shot at this. Literally. Otherwise…well, I decided not to think about that.

I could feel my legs starting to tremble. I felt really weak. My chest hurt, and my head felt like it was floating. It was pure adrenaline keeping me upright. Jessica seemed to notice how bad I looked, and she squeezed my hand reassuringly. We both looked at the monster's reflection in the glass door.

Medusa was walking slowly toward us, her arms outstretched invitingly. When she was close enough, Jessica mouthed, _One, two…now!_ I closed my eyes and ducked. In the same second, I heard an arrow whiz over my head, and then came the sickening sound of the arrow hitting its target, and the monster disintegrating into dust. When the crumbling stopped, I opened my eyes slowly. Jessica looked pretty pale, and she was still holding the bow up as if she had an invisible arrow ready. Eventually she put her arm down and looked at me. "Wow," she muttered. "A monster on the first day."

I scoffed, getting to my feet. "Better get used to it," I told her. "We're Big Three kids. Monsters love to chase us all over the place." The dizziness was starting to return, and I felt like I was going to collapse. "Let's just find the others, okay?"

We found them exactly where we'd left them by the edge of the forest. When we told them about Medusa, Annabeth and Grover went pale. "She mentioned us?" Grover whimpered.

I nodded, the motion making me dizzier.

"Killed a monster on the first day, huh?" Thalia mused, smiling at Jessica. "Impressive, new girl."

I noticed Jessica had moved a little closer to Nico, who smiled at her.

I shivered as the harsh wind blew straight through my three layers of clothing. My throat felt like it was closing up, and the trees spun. White spots danced in front of my vision, and I grabbed Annabeth's arm to keep myself from face-planting into the snow.

"Percy?" Annabeth grasped my shoulders, studying face with concern.

I blinked, trying to clear up my eyesight, without success. "I'm fine," I lied. "I just…need to…sit down…" _The world's spinning really fast_, I thought to myself, dazed.

"Let's make camp and rest," Annabeth suggested to Thalia.

"Gotcha," Thalia replied. She dug through the pockets of her silver parka and brought out a small silver rectangle about the size as a pack of gum. I frowned. Nico asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Just watch, death boy." She threw the silver rectangle onto the ground. At first I thought I was going delirious as we watched as it expanded into a full-sized tent. "There we go," Thalia said.

She led us inside, and I remembered that the Hunters' tents were magic, seeming like normal camping tents on the outside, but like a cozy cabin on the inside. Jessica gasped. "It's bigger on the inside," she muttered.

"I know, right?" Thalia laughed.

A campfire was already burning in the middle of the floor. We all sat around it, trying to warm up. I sat as close to the fire as I could without burning myself, but I still couldn't help shivering violently. Then I realized that I wouldn't get warmer, because I was freezing from the inside, rather than the outside. I sighed in frustration.

I felt a blanket drape itself around my shoulders, and I looked up to see Annabeth take her place next to me, wrapping her arms around mine. I kissed her cheek to show her my thanks. This might sound cheesy, but I swear I felt a little warmer right then.

Jessica smirked. "Aww, _regardez le mignon couple_," she giggled. "You guys are adorable."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make fun of us just because you're jealous, little sister," I teased.

"Jealous?" Jessica laughed. "You're funny."

Nico coughed. "Guys, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we be focusing on what we do from here? Where we go? How we get there?"

Annabeth sighed. "We go to Alaska, obviously. As to how we get there…still working on it."

"Maybe we could find another bus?" Thalia proposed.

Grover scoffed. "If you haven't noticed, buses don't really work for us, Thalia."

"I'm just brainstorming!"

I found myself leaning on Annabeth's shoulder, trying to stop shivering. My hands felt stiff with cold. My chest stung, and I dissolved into more horrible coughing. When I could finally breathe again, I rested my head on her shoulder again, my chest throbbing like a hammer hitting my heart.

"Percy, you need to rest," Annabeth murmured.

That sounded like such a good idea that I didn't argue at all. I repositioned myself so I was using her lap as a pillow. "You don't mind this, do you?" I murmured sleepily, closing my eyes. I tried to be nonchalant about it, but I could totally feel myself blushing and my heart racing just a little more.

Annabeth laughed. "Be my guest, Seaweed Brain," she said. I could imagine an eye roll.

It didn't take too long for me to fall asleep and launch myself into another nightmare.

* * *

><p><strong>So just a little bit of what I want to do this month: <strong>

**1. Read _The Mark of Athena_ (YESSS! FINALLY!)**

**2. Rant about _The Mark of Athena_**

**3. Write my mom a birthday fanfic, and some other Sally stuff, 'cuz Sally's awesome and so is my mom :3**

**4. Get better at playing music**

**Just for the record, I'm going to completely avoid until I read MoA, because I know there are going to be 10 million fanfics called [insert Heroes of Olympus Book 4 title here]. So understandably, no fanfiction until I'm done with MoA.**

**Oh, and my weekend was so awesome and sad. I saw _The Perks of Being a Wallflower_ and Logan, Emma, and Ezra deserve Oscars. I've never cried in a movie theatre before. And Doctor Who…well…for those of you who don't know him…he puts Riordan to shame in the art of trolling. *sigh***

**Speaking of Doctor Who, anyone catch the reference? *wink***

**Cool, leave a review telling me what you think!**

**Thanks so much! I love you all!**

**~Mandi2341 **


	11. I Drink Grover's Gatorade

**Author's Note: Wow…finally finished this chapter. I struggled through it, pulling words out of my mind. Seriously, I feel like this chapter was fighting against me. And then…the writer's block suddenly went away. It was a great feeling. So I apologize greatly for the huge time lapse; here's a prize for your patience.**

**Not much action in this chapter, I'm afraid. But I did take a bit of **_**Heroes of Olympus **_**info to write this. You'll see.**

**Ooo I saw **_**Skyfall**_**. Loved it! And now for **_**Les Miserables**_**! I've seen every version of that story. Except reading it.**

**So…um…I don't think I'm forgetting anything. Oh, yes I am. MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you guys got everything you wanted and more! Enjoy the remaining, what, 10 days? Yeah!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO OR ANY OF THAT GOOD STUFF.**

**Enjoy! **

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><p>Chapter 11: I Drink Grover's Gatorade<p>

_In my dream, I saw the two girls again. They were sitting in a dense forest, and I could only barely make out their silhouettes in the darkness, but I was sure it was they. The older one was made of mist like before, and the smaller girl was wrapped in another blanket. She seemed to be shivering in the cold._

"_I thought for sure Medusa would've killed him," she muttered._

_The misty one glared. "I thought you were going to kill him," she growled. "In your own words, 'he'd be dead before he knew what was wrong with him.'"_

_The girl in the blanket lowered her head, as if in shame. "I thought he would be, my lady," she protested._

_Misty girl scoffed. "Well, now he's on his way to destroy your family. _Our _family. And what are you going to do about it?"_

_The other girl fumed for a few seconds. "I had a plan, my lady. It would've been over on the bus, but she made them get off. Almost like she…sensed me. And then, Medusa, and…" She trailed off in frustration._

_The misty girl narrowed her eyes. "I want you to get rid of him. _Before_ he reaches his destination. Understood? Obviously Price's curse isn't working fast enough."_

"_My lady," the other girl said, "the curse of Achilles makes it difficult."_

"_Then find a way to break through it." Suddenly the mist girl looked around like she heard something…or some_one_. Then she stared right at me. "So, we've got an eavesdropper," she mused. "You know what the punishment for eavesdropping is, don't you, little demigod?"_

"_Someone's coming, my lady!" the girl in the blanket hissed._

"_You take care of them," the mist woman replied. "And I'll take care of this one." She smiled cruelly and stretched out her hand, almost like she was beckoning me._

Suddenly, it was like my chest was imploding. I couldn't breathe, and the pain jolted me awake. I was still lying in Annabeth's lap, and she was still fast asleep, but I was in so much pain I felt like screaming. I couldn't catch my breath, and it took every ounce of my willpower to haul myself to my feet.

I covered my mouth, feeling the urge to cough my lungs out. As soon as I was outside of the tent, I dissolved into the worst coughing fit yet. I was wheezing for air, doubled over in pain that radiated from my lungs and my heart to the tips of my fingers. But the worst part was when my vision blended everything together, my ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, a cold sweat broke out on my forehead…and suddenly I was hit with a wave of debilitating nausea.

I clamped a hand over my mouth and managed to make it to the edge of the forest before I threw up. Needless to say, it wasn't fun. At all. I found myself hugging my stomach, my eyes shut with pain. I collapsed to my knees, feeling another wave of nausea roll over me. I tried to keep down the rising bile in my throat, without success.

When I finally opened my eyes, my vision was still blurred, but I could see a figure coming toward me—a girl. I was worried that it might have been one of the girls from my dream, and I did not have the strength to run or fight.

"Percy?" the girl called as she approached. It was Jessica.

I looked up, and I wanted to answer, but I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I'd throw up again.

As she got closer, she seemed to notice my awful state, and her eyes went wide with panic as she ran to my side. "Oh, _mes dieux_," she whispered. "Percy…you're throwing up?"

I took a deep breath, for once appreciating the cold air. "I'm fine," I croaked. It was a terrible lie.

Jessica frowned. "Is that like, an automatic thing? Whenever we can _see_ that you're obviously _not_ okay, you say you are, and we're supposed to believe you?"

I glared at her. The last thing in the world I needed was a lecture from my little sister. But she was just frustrated. And she was right. I sighed. "I guess it _is _an automatic thing," I admitted. "I hate when people are worried about me. I guess…I'm just used to making things seem less serious than they really are, because of my mom. I hate worrying her." I scoffed. "Not that _she_ believes me, either," I added.

Jessica helped me to my feet. I leaned heavily on her as we walked back to the tent. "We should tell the others," she murmured.

I shook my head. "No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked, her eyes wide. "This is serious, dude. I don't care that you don't want to worry everyone else. It's a little too late for that, anyway. They're _already_ worried about you."

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't answer. My legs felt like Jell-O, and my stomach was still twisted in painful knots. I sat down in the snow with my back resting against the tent, closing my eyes to keep everything from spinning.

"What's it like?"

I frowned. "What's what like?"

Jessica took a few seconds to answer. "This…curse, or whatever. What does it feel like?"

I thought about it. "Have you ever had pneumonia?" I asked her.

"Never," she answered.

I remembered my mom telling me about how I was hospitalized with pneumonia when I was four. All I remembered from the experience were the needles and the horrible cough; everything else was a feverish blur to me. "It's like having pneumonia, times ten-and-a-half," I explained. "The dizziness, the cough, the burning in your lungs…it's similar, but this is…" I shook my head. "This is so much worse."

I opened my eyes, and Jessica was looking at me with an expression between pity and worry. "Maybe we should wake up the others anyway," she suggested. "I mean, we should get going if this curse is getting so bad that you're throwing up."

I shook my head. "I don't think that was part of the curse. Remember those girls from my dream?"

She nodded warily. "What about them?"

I told her about my dream, how those girls were so upset to see me still alive, and the misty girl's punishment for my eavesdropping. "She just…I don't even know," I admitted. "All of a sudden there was this horrible pain and coughing, like she was making me worse, or manipulating the illness."

"So…why did you puke?" Jessica asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. The pain was just that nauseating, I guess." Even thinking about it made me feel like getting sick again, so I changed the subject. "So…you said you were French, right? Are you like, from France, or what?"

She laughed quietly. "My mom is," she answered. "She's from Lyon, in southern France. She came here for college. The year after graduation, she and a bunch of friends took a trip to New Orleans fro Mardi Gras. She met my…our…dad there. And so…here I am."

I nodded. "My mom met my dad at Montauk, up in Long Island." I frowned. "She was pretty young actually. It was for a summer…" I trailed off, surprised at myself for telling Jessica something so personal. I looked down awkwardly at my hands in my lap. "Anyway," I told her, "What were you doing in the forest?"

Jessica took on this strange expression, like she was seriously freaked out about something and was trying not to lose her cool. "I was keeping watch, and I thought I saw something in the forest, so I went to check it out," she explained.

I frowned. "Something like what you saw on the bus?" I asked.

Jessica stared at the darkness of the forest ahead of her. She seemed to grow paler in the moonlight. "I…I guess so," she murmured. "I had this strange feeling on the bus, and just now when I was keeping watch."

"Did you find anything?" I asked her.

Her eyebrows furrowed. She pursed her lips. But she shook her head.

"You're lying," I said to her.

She glared at me. "No, I'm not," she countered.

I thought about the girls in the forest, and how the one with the blanket seemed to notice something or someone coming. "What did you find?" I asked my sister again.

"_Nothing_," she said defensively. "Seriously. I just came back to find you puking. And about that, are you sure you want to keep this a secret from everyone? You're going to get worse in front of them anyway, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to be fine, okay? We're going to stop this stupid curse, and I can't do that with everyone telling me to rest or take a break. I have to get to Alaska. I can do it."

My sister looked at me like she wanted to argue but was debating whether it would be worth it or not. Finally she sighed. "Fine. Then you better go back to bed. I'll wake up Nico for the next watch."

* * *

><p>You know how when you have a cold or the flu, you wake up with your mouth dry and your throat stinging, and everything just aches? That's how I felt the next morning, but ten times worse.<p>

Annabeth shook my shoulder gently. "Hey, Seaweed Brain," she murmured. "Wake up."

I sat up and immediately felt nauseous. But I painfully hauled myself to my feet. The vertigo and nausea overwhelmed me, and I fell into my girlfriend's arms. Even breathing was painful.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice was panicky. "Percy, are you okay?"

I couldn't answer verbally—that's how out of breath I felt. So I shook my head feebly. _Don't black out, Percy_, I told myself. _Do not black out._

"Oh, gods," Annabeth muttered. "Percy, come on, stay with me."

Black spots were rapidly filling my vision. But I managed to stay conscious, though I could feel my arms shaking as I tried to pull myself back to my feet. "I'm okay," I muttered, mostly to myself. "I'm okay."

Annabeth gently set me down on the floor and held my hand. "Percy, your hands are freezing," she said.

I felt so dizzy that I could barely focus on her face. "Maybe yours are just really warm," I murmured. That's how they felt, anyway. I closed my eyes; everything was spinning too fast. As soon as I did, I felt like I was sinking into darkness. But I still managed to stay conscious.

I felt a warm hand on my forehead. Annabeth muttered, "This isn't good." Then she called for Thalia.

"We need to get moving," Thalia decided. "Like, now."

"We can't do anything with him like this," Nico muttered.

I heard a finger-snap, like a light bulb had gone off in someone's head. I opened my eyes and saw Grover standing over me. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "Nico, do you still have that bottle of Gatorade?"

I frowned. "Gatorade?" I croaked.

Nico rolled his eyes. He was standing by the entrance of the tent. "Grover and I checked out the CVS early this morning, and Grover got this idea. A bad idea."

Grover looked offended. "It's a great idea," he corrected. He glanced at me. "It'll make you feel a little better, dude."

"Or make him throw up," Nico muttered.

I did _not_ want to throw up anymore, so I was understandably reluctant to try whatever Grover was planning. But he had been my best friend since sixth grade at Yancy Academy. He always meant well. And Gatorade couldn't be that gross, could it? I sighed. "What's your idea, G-man?"

* * *

><p>I was wary when Grover came back. He seemed to be holding a bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade, but it was slightly darker than it should have been. I raised an eyebrow. "Um…" I started, pointing to the bottle of strange liquid, "What's <em>in <em>that?"

Grover looked down at it. "Just some herbs, a little bit of mint for your throat. If I did it right, you'll feel better after this."

I didn't like the sound of that _if_. "And if you _didn't_ do it right?"

Nico scoffed. "Let's just say…you'll feel _worse_ after this," he muttered.

Grover pouted. "Aw, come on, Nico," he complained. "Does medicine taste good? But does it make you feel better?"

Thalia smirked. "Ambrosia does the job, too, while still tasting good," she pointed out.

That was a good point. "Then can I try some ambrosia first?" I asked.

Annabeth looked a little pained. "I wouldn't, at this point," she told me.

"Why not?"

"It'll spike your fever and make you sick to your stomach," she said. "And besides, even ambrosia won't stop the ice forming inside of you."

Jessica finally spoke up. "I'd go for the Gatorade, dude," she said. "You don't want to get sick _again._"

Annabeth frowned. "What do you mean, again?" She looked at me.

I gave my sister a hard look. "Nothing," I said.

There was no way Annabeth believed me, but she dropped it. Instead she said, "I agree with Jessica. You should go with the Gatorade. And it really does help," she promised. "It's satyr magic."

Grover nodded. "Coach Hedge taught me. He's usually pretty good at it."

I didn't know Coach Hedge very well; I'd only met him, like, once. But he was definitely the opposite of any satyr I'd ever met, with his loud voice and coach's whistle. And obsession with killing monsters. So I wasn't sure if Grover's mentioning Hedge should've helped or hurt.

Nico shook his head. "If you want to poison yourself, be my guest," he said.

Grover opened his mouth to snap back, but Thalia put a hand on his shoulder and took the bottle from him to hand it to me. "Just drink the Gatorade, Seaweed Brain," she sighed.

I took the bottle from Grover and stared at it. I'll be honest—I wasn't jumping up and down to drink that liquid. But I managed to force it down. Let's just say…if you mixed lemon-lime Gatorade, grass, mint leaves, and gym socks together, you'd get a taste similar to what I drank. I tried not to gag as I swallowed the last of it, handing the empty bottle back to Grover.

I guess he could tell by my expression that it hadn't been an enjoyable experience. "Okay, so it's not nectar," he muttered. "But how do you feel?"

Honestly, I did feel the tiniest bit stronger—not as faint or dizzy as before, though my chest and throat felt numb, and I could feel how hard it was to breathe. At least I wasn't ready to drop face-first. "Ignoring the aftertaste," I started, "I actually feel a little better." I smiled. "Thanks, man."

Grover grinned. "Told you."

Nico glanced at the empty bottle, then at me. "I still can't believe you actually drank that," he muttered, shaking his head. Jessica smirked.

Thalia shrugged. "Good thing he did," she said. "Because we need to get going." She glanced over in the direction of the gas station. "I hate stealing…but desperate times call for desperate measures. Let's go find a car someone won't miss."

Annabeth lowered her gaze, and then she glanced at me. She took one of my freezing-cold hands in hers and squeezed it tight. It still managed to send butterflies fluttering in my stomach. She seemed to be thinking so many things at once, there was no way I could even try to read her thoughts through her stormy gray eyes. Finally she sighed. "I'll drive," she offered.

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><p><strong>Please, please, please tell me what you think of this. I had fun writing it. I don't know…I kind of like writing about Jessica. She's loosely based off of my sister and me. Even though we look nothing like her. <strong>

**Currently listening to "Radioactive," by Imagine Dragons. Alexandra Daddario has a laser-shooting pink teddy bear in the music video. **

**Review, please! They're so very helpful!**

**Thanks!**

**~Mandi2341**


	12. We Fight Two Teens to the Death

**Author's Note: Um…so first of all, I would like to apologize immensely for the super huge delay. I deserve to have rocks thrown at me or something. But you know what? School was being extremely annoying, and I barely had any time to do anything OTHER than school. But now, it's summer vacation, meaning I have lots more time! Another thing: this chapter required a bunch of research, so I had to do that, too. (Anyone from St. Paul, I apologize in advance if I butchered your city.)**

**Now, I have a couple of thank-yous to hand out. 1) Evelynyamine, for that PM that prompted me to work harder on this chapter. You're awesome for that, and I thank you so much for it. I promised you that this would be the next thing I updated. It was. 2) JP Lacey, who left me the BEST review of ALL TIME. I seriously love you, you wonderful, wonderful person! You made me feel better about my writing, which I thought wasn't that good. People, go read her story **_**The Halls of Larson**_** on FictionPress. It's so amazing. She's a great writer.**

**Oh my gosh, you guys are flipping amazing for still, like, wanting to read this after I've been so terrible to you. I thought you deserved a long chapter, so here's a 6,000-word chapter for you guys, as a token of my appreciation for not giving up on this story.**

**Thanks so, so, so, so much!**

**Disclaimer: No, I'm not Rick Riordan. He can actually write a whole story in a year. It's taken me three so far.**

**I hope you like it! I worked really, really hard on it!**

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><p>Chapter 12: We Fight Two Teens to the Death<p>

It turns out that Annabeth was a pretty good driver.

The six of us managed to squeeze into an old silver Toyota Camry, hoping that whomever it belonged to wouldn't mind too much. After all, we were saving the world (and my lungs) from a new ice age.

I grabbed shotgun, trying to avoid the claustrophobia party in the backseat (and alright, to sit next to Annabeth), and Jessica, Nico, Thalia, and Grover crammed together, double-buckling. On the highway, Jessica sighed, catching Annabeth's glance in the rearview mirror. "There are so many teenagers in this car…" she muttered. "There's no way we're not getting pulled over."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Not if I drive properly," she pointed out.

Somewhere in Ohio, I drifted off. And my dreams were the worst yet.

* * *

><p><em>I was in an unfamiliar city, walking alongside two people: a tall man and a young girl. They each wore sunglasses, despite the fact that it was overcast and dusk. The girl's hair was gathered up into a ski cap, and she looked around, like she was scared of getting caught by someone. "What are we doing here?" she asked, irritated.<em>

_ The man clicked his tongue at her. "I thought you would be excited about the festival," he mused. It's early this year." He had this evil glint in his eyes that I couldn't place. "And besides, they're coming. Soon, that silly little curse of Achilles will be ripped away from Mr. Jackson."_

_ My heart dropped. His voice was unmistakable; it was Mr. Price, the man who had started this whole thing. Had he and this girl somehow found a way around my invincibility? They couldn't have. And what festival were they talking about?_

_ The girl scoffed. "Because your first plan worked so well, right?"_

_ "Shh," he told her, putting a finger to her lips. He tensed, his head whipping around like he had noticed something. "I do believe we have an eavesdropper," he mused._

_ The girl looked straight at me. "Again," she growled. "Why can't you mind your own business, Jackson?"_

_ The scene suddenly shifted, blurring and spinning around me. When it finally settled again, I found myself standing in the middle of that same snowy forest. I could feel every bit of the harsh cold that managed to blow through my jacket and bite into my skin. It was dark, like nighttime, but the white snow was still easy to see in the moonlight._

_ I didn't want to be here. I knew what would happen. And it did, once again. I heard Annabeth's shrill cry of pain, followed by her weakening groans. I ran to her again, goosebumps rising on my arms that had nothing to do with the bitter cold. And I found her, lying on the ground, the snow turning dark with her blood all around her._

_ "Annabeth, no," I murmured, rushing to her side, pressing my hand against the huge gash in her side to stifle the bleeding. But there was just too much blood. Her face was turning gray. "You're not going to die on me," I told her. My voice didn't sound as confident as I'd meant it to._

_ Annabeth gripped my hand painfully. Her hand was sticky. It sent chills all over my body. I was in the middle of a horror film. Annabeth groaned, "Don't…trust her. She's the…traitor. I never would've guessed…"_

_ "Who?" I pleaded. "Who's the traitor?"_

_ She tried to pick up her head, and opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes rolled back into her head, and her grip on my hand went completely slack._

_ It was my turn to grip her hand. "No!" I cried. "No! Annabeth, come on! Don't die on me!" I could feel my eyes stinging. She couldn't die. She…she just couldn't die._

_ All around me, I could hear laughter—laughter coming from several people, like the whole forest was laughing at me. That infuriated me to no end. My girlfriend was drying in my arms and someone dared to laugh? "Come here and laugh to my face, you cowards!" I shouted._

_ A male voice answered after another chuckle. "Oh, Perseus," he taunted. It was Price. "This isn't real, of course. It's just a dream. But it'll be a reality soon enough. Don't worry."_

_ With Annabeth bleeding out in my hands, watching her face get whiter and whiter, my heart burned despite the ice within me. "I dare you," I growled._

_ The laughter started over, louder, more malevolent. "I'll take that as a challenge," Price's voice mused. "You take this as a warning—try to keep your eavesdropping to a minimum. I believe you were punished for it LAST night, weren't you?"_

_ His voice was dripping with fake sympathy, but in spite of myself I felt nauseous at the mention of my "punishment." I managed, "You're not going to kill her. Or me. Or anyone."_

_ "Enjoy your last day with your girlfriend, Perseus," Price's voice chuckled. "You don't have much time left to spend with her. I'd make the most of it, if I were you."_

_ His evil laughter echoed through the trees as I held Annabeth's cold, lifeless body._

* * *

><p>I jumped awake with a gasp. That gasp turned into violent coughing. With a twinge of panic, I realized that it was getting a lot harder to catch my breath after a coughing fit. It was like there was barely enough room for air in my lungs, and I had this perpetually cold feeling in my chest. I was shivering.<p>

Annabeth stole a glance at me. "You alright?" she whispered.

I felt disoriented. It was dark out, and I had no idea where we were. "Where are we?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Just crossed the border into Minnesota," she murmured. "How are you feeling?"

Even in the dark, her blond curls seemed to glow. Every time the headlights of another car flashed over her face, I caught dark circles under gray eyes from lack of sleep. I couldn't believe that she would…die, in my arms. A cold shiver went through me.

Annabeth frowned at the windshield. "What's wrong?" she pressed.

"Nothing," I muttered, shaking my head. "But I think…I think one of those girls might be in Minnesota." I explained the small part of my dream that didn't include her death, because I still refused to believe that would happen.

"You think it's the same girl from before?" Annabeth asked.

"She had to have been one of them," I decided. "She recognized me from another dream." I quickly filled her in on the other dream, leaving out the gross details of my getting sick. "And the man was my teacher, the one who put the curse on me in the first place," I explained.

Her frown deepened. By now, I knew what each of her frowns meant. I knew her annoyed frown, her confused frown, and her frustrated frown. Now she wore her worried frown. "How would they take away the curse?" she asked. "That's impossible. Even if they can weaken it, they can't remove it."

I had a bad feeling that they're plan to kill Annabeth would have something to do with it. She was my anchor to the mortal world. If she died…I have no anchor. I pushed that thought out of my mind. Nothing would happen to her. I wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Annabeth must've seen how unsettled I was about it, because she offered me her hand. I took it and laced my fingers through hers. My arm tingled all the way up to my shoulder.

"Everything's going to be fine," she murmured, staring out the windshield. "You're not going to die. I won't let you." She smirked at me.

I managed a smile back, but I had to bite my tongue to keep from responding with, _I won't let you, either._ Instead I asked, "Can we turn on the radio? It's too quiet in here."

Jessica groaned from the backseat, "No radio. We're sleeping."

I glanced behind me and found my sister resting her head on Nico's shoulder with her eyes closed. Nico was asleep, too, resting his head on hers. Grover and Thalia were completely knocked out as well. "Fine," I conceded. "No radio."

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Annabeth and I laughed. "She's a character, huh?" Annabeth smirked.

"Tell me about it," I chuckled.

"_Arrêtez de parler de moi,_" she muttered. "_Je peux vous entendre._"

I had no idea what she had said. "Can you speak English, please?"

"Stop talking about me. I can hear you," she translated. She followed it up with, "Why don't you guys go back to holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into ear other's ears or something?"

I didn't think I was warm enough to blush, but my face felt surprisingly hot. "We don't do that," I muttered.

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah. And besides, we never _stopped_ holding hands," she added with a wink.

Thalia smirked from the backseat. "Imagine Percy whispering sweet nothings into Annabeth's ear," she laughed. "Good one, Jessica."

Even Nico and Grover laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, now that everyone's awake, I'll turn on the radio."

"Fine," Jessica surrendered.

I found a station playing The Offspring, which Jessica protested against. But Thalia, Nico, and I overruled them.

The entire rest of the ride, Annabeth and I managed to keep out fingers intertwined. I wasn't going to let her go.

* * *

><p>Annabeth did a pretty decent job getting us all the way to Minnesota without attracting attention. But a few miles outside of St. Paul, we ran out of gas and had to walk it.<p>

Nico spoke up as we walked toward the city. "So how are we going to get to Alaska from here?" he asked. "We don't have a car anymore."

"We'll think of something," Thalia murmured. She stole a worried glance at me. "How are you holding out?"

I'll admit, I was feeling pretty drowsy and achy and out-of-breath, like I'd run a marathon. I tried not to let anyone notice, but everyone managed to see through my charade. I shrugged, even though I felt like throat was closing. I filled my lungs with as much air as they would hold (which wasn't much) and let it out in a sigh. "Okay, I guess," I decided, though my voice sounded like I was picking up laryngitis on top of everything else. "Whatever that was that Grover gave me seemed to do the trick."

"Told you," Grover said with a smile.

Annabeth fell into step with me, and she laced her fingers through mine. Her hands were so warm. Or mine were cold. The latter was probably more accurate. But her touch made my heart race a little faster; it never failed. I squeezed her hand and smiled at her. Then I remembered Price's warning: _You don't have much time left to spend with her. I'd make the most of it if I were you._ My last day with my girlfriend.

"No," I whispered.

Annabeth frowned at me. "No what?" she asked. "Why do you look so scared?"

I blinked back the horrible images of Annabeth from my dream and put my smile back on. "I'm not scared," I shrugged. My voice came out a little shaky. That prophecy line, too—The one you love shall die with a friend. I wasn't sure who the friend would be. Why was I even considering it as a possibility? No one was dying on this quest, not me, not Annabeth, not anyone.

Annabeth didn't look like she believed me, but I reassured her that I was fine and that she shouldn't worry.

* * *

><p>St. Paul was a cool city. Probably not one I'd choose to live in, but I liked it a lot. Although with all of the snow and ice everywhere, I kind of felt…unwelcome. The place seemed icy and evil and sinister, like Khione's little ice followers were lurking around every corner. Besides, Price promised we'd meet him here.<p>

We were on our guard, but Annabeth still managed to point out every piece of architecture she could find, as per normal. Her eyes lit up as we passed this huge glass building. "The Como Zoo and Observatory!" she beamed. "It's gorgeous!"

Jessica lifted an eyebrow. "It's a greenhouse," she said simply, like she was looking for something significant about it.

Thalia patted her on the shoulder. "Annabeth's a huge architect nut," she explained.

Honestly, I never really cared much about the facts. But I glanced at Annabeth and how delighted she was in seeing this place, and it hurt to think about this being her last day. Just in case it was, I listened a little better to her. I found myself drinking her looks and features, trying to memorize them. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to me, resting my cheek against hers.

She shivered a little bit, and her expression was a little hard to read, like she was concerned but trying to laugh it off. "Wow, you're really cold," she noticed. She touched my cheek. "You're freezing."

I was. Literally. But it was weird that now I _felt_ cold to the touch, considering I'd been feverish a few days ago.

Jessica froze in her tracks, looking ahead of her. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. It was a very similar expression to the one she had on when she had pulled us off the bus in New Jersey. She was staring at a large, elaborate display, kind of like a castle made of ice and multicolored lights. Lots of people were crowding around it, like the whole city had come to see it. There must've been some sort of festival going on. The festival. That must have been what Price had meant in my dream.

Thalia frowned. "Winter Carnival," she mused. "Odd that they're doing it in June and find nothing weird about it, huh?"

She glanced at Jessica, who had gone white as a sheet, and shaky. "Jessica, something wrong?" she asked.

My sister blinked, like she was waking up from a trance. "N-no," she stuttered. "W-why would anything be wrong?"

"Because you're shaking like a leaf," Nico pointed out.

Jessica shook her head, but I caught her stealing a glance at me. She turned her head back before anyone noticed, but she had given me a look of pure panic. I had the feeling she knew something, and it was scaring me that she wouldn't tell. Maybe she knew that she would shoot someone here. Would it even be here? We weren't in a forest…but my dreams were messing up my head. It was making me paranoid, keeping me on edge. "Come on," she said, her tone forcefully lighthearted. "Let's check this place out. I have a feeling we'll get some clues here."

So did I. But I didn't like it.

* * *

><p>Thalia was right. The Winter Carnival seemed to be a pretty normal thing here in St. Paul, but it couldn't have been normal in June. The people here must have forgotten that up here in the Northern Hemisphere, June was a summer month. The Mist had to have been pretty powerful.<p>

We were surrounded by all sorts of ice sculptures, some as big as ten feet tall. It looked like a parade was about to start. As we got closer, though, I started to feel worse. My head throbbed with pain. The brightness of the snow hurt my eyes. I could feel that massive brain-freeze from capture the flag coming back. I found myself leaning heavily on Annabeth without meaning to. Annabeth wrapped her arm tighter around my waist but said nothing.

"What's this carnival for?" Nico asked.

Grover shrugged. "Apparently the legend is mythology-based," he explained. "Boreas, king of the North Wind, found this place and decided to make it his domain."

Annabeth frowned and shook her head. "Boreas lives in Quebec," she corrected.

Jessica spoke up. "You know how mortals mix things up," she muttered. "But legend has it that Boreas found this city and called it his domain, deciding to hold a carnival for ten days dedicated to winter. But this other guy, the god of fire, Vulcanus Rex, storms the place at the end, and Boreas goes back up to Olympus to wait through the summer." Her expression was hard. "The mythology's wrong; I know. But that's what they're doing."

I gave her a wary look. "How do you know that?" I asked her.

"I've heard of it," she answered quietly.

I wanted to ask her _where_ she'd heard of it, but she was no longer facing me. It was like she had decided to tune me out. Her face looked apprehensive and conflicted. "Can we watch the parade?" she finally asked.

Annabeth and I looked at each other. It seemed like a pretty…ironic question for her to ask. I didn't want to watch the parade. Honestly, I wanted to lie down and take a nap. Secondly, I wanted to get to Alaska so I could reverse this stupid curse before it completely overwhelmed me, and I wasn't too far from that; I could feel it. And third, Price and that girl were lying in wait for us at that festival. "Jess, is it really necessary that we watch it?" I asked wearily.

She looked at me intently. "If we watch it, maybe we'll find some clues about these Khione followers," she explained. "Maybe we can find some way to reverse the curse ourselves, without even going to Alaska."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "The only way to reverse the curse is to destroy whoever gave it to you," she said gravely. "The curse dies with them."

Jessica closed her eyes. She looked like she was on the verge of panic and was trying to calm herself down. Why did she seem so unhinged? "I just…really feel like we should go to the parade," she said with conviction.

Nico frowned at her. "Why?" he asked.

She just shook her head. "I…I don't know."

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, it can't hurt, can it?" he asked, his voice reluctant.

I had a feeling it _would_ hurt, a lot, but I decided to follow Jessica into the crowds. But I had a horrible feeling that my sister was leading us into a trap. Immediately I scolded myself for thinking that. _She's your sister, Percy_, I reminded myself. _She wouldn't try to kill you. She came on this quest to protect you. She's trying to protect you_. But I couldn't help but think that Jessica had some ulterior motive up her sleeve.

Especially when we were met by two teenagers who looked eerily supernatural. They looked like siblings, with similar dark blonde hair and eyes that had all of the warmth and color of ice. They both had scabbards strapped to their waists and wore short sleeves despite the harsh cold. I was on guard immediately.

The girl cocked her head to the side. Her eyes seemed to freeze my insides even more. That intense stare of hers—no, it wasn't a stare. It was a glare. "Price told us about you, Perseus," she mused. She shifted her gaze to Jessica. "And you, too."

Nico glared back at them. "We hear Price is here," he told them.

"We need to see him," Thalia added.

The boy drew his sword. It was made from Stygian ice, like Avery's had been. "'I'm afraid we can't let you do that." He pointed the blade at me, letting the tip rest against my throat. It burned my skin like dry ice, and I let out a gasp of pain.

Annabeth unsheathed her dagger. "Is that a challenge?" she asked in a low, dangerous voice that made me feel sorry for those kids.

"Sounded like one to me." Thalia tapped her silver bracelet, and it spiraled into her shield Aegis, with its fake Medusa head. The kids shuddered involuntarily at the sight of it, but they managed to keep their poker faces on.

I tried to step away from the icy blade, but the boy just dug it deeper into my skin. I clenched my teeth to hold back the scream building up inside me. It hurt so badly. My throat was closing. I couldn't breathe. It felt the same as the day Price had put the spell on me—my only thoughts were _This hurts, Stop the pain, _and _Please._ I was itching to uncap Riptide and slice his blade in half, but my whole body was engulfed in a horrible stinging sensation.

"You see," the boy continued, "that would involve you killing Price. We're not stupid. And well, my sister Amy and I have sworn to keep him safe."

The girl nodded. "Yeah. And besides, you're a threat to our family," she added. There was a look of unconditional hate in her eyes. "We're not letting you tear us apart."

I glared at her. "I don't even know what I'm going to do to you," I protested.

The girl, Amy, turned to her brother. "Sam, let's get this over with, okay?"

She drew her own Stygian ice sword and slashed at my girlfriend. Nico drew his own sword and countered. Jessica stepped back, uncomfortably shifting her bracelet around her wrist.

The boy who had me at sword-point, Sam, went to attack Nico, but Grover pulled out his panpipes and played an urgent tune that had vines breaking through the snow on the ground. They wrapped around Amy's ankles, and she hit the ground hard.

I choked, falling to my knees, trying to clear my throat. The coughing fit I'd fallen into was the worst yet. I felt like I was going to throw up, and I was dizzy and lightheaded. Grover helped me to my feet as I watched Sam and Nico go at it. Their swords were whipping around each other, Stygian ice versus Stygian iron.

I managed to catch the tail-end of Annabeth's fight with Amy, seeing Annabeth parry a strike and slash the girl's face, leaving a long bloody gash from the girl's upper lip to her eye. Amy let out an angry growl and swung at Annabeth, but suddenly she cried out in pain, clutching her leg. She pulled a turquoise arrow from her thigh.

I turned, and there Jessica was, bow in hand. "What do you want?" she shouted.

Behind me, Nico grunted in pain. I turned in time to see Nico's sword fall out of his hand, his wrists held behind his back by Sam, who had a sword at Nico's throat.

Jessica's eyes widened with panic. "Nico!"

"Annabeth!" Grover shouted at the same time. Amy had tackled Annabeth, and the two of them went sprawling in the snow. Annabeth tried to defend herself, but Amy had managed to disarm her and had a sword pointed at her face, ready to stab and end it.

Thalia, who hadn't been able to find an opening in the fight, raised her spear to the sky. Suddenly the clouds grew darker, and I could smell ozone in the air, feeling the pressure drop. "I'll electrocute you both," she threatened the siblings.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "News flash, girl," she taunted. "Snow is water. You electrocute us, you fry your friends as well."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Just kill the girl and get it over with," he told his sister.

The girl raised her hand to plunge the blade into Annabeth's neck, and I was about to run her through with Riptide when Jessica screamed, "Stop!" She was breathing heavily, like she was about to have a panic attack. "What do you want?" she asked, this time her voice shrill with desperation.

Amy roughly pulled Annabeth to her feet, keeping the icy blade at her neck. "Jessica," she said soothingly (which was ironic for the situation), "Someone here just wants to have a little talk with you. I think you should go. Now." She glanced at Annabeth like she was a piece of trash she'd been forced to pick up from the streets. "Or else this one might be gone sooner than originally planned."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth demanded. She was trying to sound forceful and intimidating, but I could see the fear in her gray eyes. "What are you going to do to me?"

The boy shrugged. "Nothing, yet," he answered casually. "Maybe we won't have to do anything at all. It all depends on how Jessica's little talk goes."

"What are you talking about? Who wants to talk to me?" Jessica's voice was flat-out panicky now.

He shrugged again. "Eh, you'll see." He grabbed Nico by the throat. "Unless of course, you choose to bail. And then I'd have to…" He tightened his grip on the smaller boy, who gagged, trying to inhale.

"Stop!" Jessica screamed again. "Please! I'll go! I'll talk with whoever it is, okay? Just…don't hurt him. Please."

Nico choked, "Jess, don't!"

Jessica's eyes hardened. They were stormy, like the sea during a hurricane. "Let him go, now. I said I'd go with you."

Both of our enemies smirked. "I thought that's what your answer might be," Amy muttered. They shoved Nico and Annabeth into the snow. I'd never seen either of them get overwhelmed like that. They were two of the most powerful demigods I knew. Whoever those kids were, they were powerful, not to be underestimated again. They couldn't be normal demigods. There was something else about them.

As they led my little sister away toward the Winter Palace, Jessica bent down and picked something up from the ground. I didn't see what it was, but I didn't remember her dropping anything during the fight.

I didn't know what they were going to do with her. And I wrapped my arms around Annabeth, not sure of how much time I had left with her. It seemed like the clock was ticking much faster than I thought.

Annabeth put her hands on my face. "Percy…you're shaking. And wheezing."

I was. I felt terrible. But I managed between gasps of air, "I just…need to…lie down…for a bit."

Thalia and Grover looked me over with concern. Nico was still trying to recover from his chokehold, but we all agreed to make camp in the park. Thalia manipulated the Mist so the mortals wouldn't see our tent.

* * *

><p>It was dark, and Jessica still wasn't back.<p>

Annabeth got up from the floor. "I'm going to go look for her."

As she started to make her way outside, a wave of panic surged through me. I had a really bad feeling about Annabeth going outside alone. That would be too similar to my dream, and I couldn't let it come true. I got up after her and grabbed her wrist. "Annabeth, don't," I muttered.

She gave me a weird look. "What?" she asked.

"Don't go out there. At least not alone." The hand that was clasped around her wrist was trembling.

Annabeth looked at Thalia, Grover, and Nico like she was trying to see if they had the answer to why I was being so weird. Then she slowly turned her eyes back to me and raised an eyebrow. "Percy, I'll be fine," she said. "Seriously."

I couldn't shake that premonition. I couldn't let her go out there. I couldn't let her die. "Annabeth, please," I begged her.

She frowned at me. "Percy, your little sister's out there in the cold with a bunch of strangers," she reminded me. "Don't you want her back here safely?"

"Those strangers want to kill you," I blurted out. "Remember?"

"They won't." Her voice was firm, and her eyes were hard.

"Besides, all the more reason to go with you," I added. "She's my sister. My responsibility. I'll go."

"Oh, no," she said, putting a hand on my chest and pushing me back gently. "You're staying here and _resting_. We still have a long way to go and not a lot of time. You need your strength, and you're losing it exponentially. Go to bed. I'll be right back."

I lessened my grip on her arm, and Annabeth turned to leave the tent, but then I had a huge ADHD moment. On an impulse, I pulled her back toward me, and as she turned back to glare at me, I kissed her, bracing myself for a slap in the face, but it never came. My brain went fuzzy, and I cupped her face in my hands, my fingers tangled in her blonde curls.

She pulled away from me, her face bright pink and her eyes wide. "What was that for? Not that it wasn't nice—it was very nice—but why?" Her words were breathless and rushed.

I looked intently into her gray eyes. Then I shrugged. "Can't a guy just…kiss his girlfriend?"

Annabeth's expression morphed into a little bit of concern. Maybe she was worried that I'd gone insane. I promise I was perfectly sane. I'm still not really sure what came over me like that, but I guess it was the idea lurking in the back of my mind that I might never get to kiss her again.

_Ugh, shut up, Percy_, I told myself. _You'll get to kiss her again. She's not going to die._

With a confused look, Annabeth left the tent. I could hear her footsteps crunching in the snow.

Thalia, Nico, and Grover were looking at me like I truly was insane. Finally, Thalia let out a long, "Wow."

"We all know you love Annabeth, dude," Grover chuckled nervously. "No need to rub it in our faces. It's not like you'll never see her again."

"I…I don't know about that," I admitted. "You heard them threaten to kill her."

"I mean, I'll go follow her," Thalia offered, starting to get up from her spot on the floor.

I shook my head. "No," I whispered. _The one you love shall die with a friend._ If any one of them followed her, who knew if they'd come back alive either? "That prophecy line…it's been bothering me."

"_The one you love shall die with a friend_," Nico repeated, like he'd plucked it from my mind.

Thalia and Grover grew grimly silent. Grover tried, "Maybe, since she's alone, it won't come true. Because she wouldn't be 'dying with a friend.'"

It wasn't much comfort, but it was the best thing I had.

Until we heard it. That oh-so-familiar scream. It sent unbearable shivers down my spine. No. No. No!

Nico picked up his head, eyes wide. His face was paler than usual. He was wearing a look of pure horror. "Oh, gods." He glanced at me. "Percy…Annabeth."

My body went rigid with panic. I got an uncomfortable buzz in my ears, and a second later I was running at top speed, ripping away the flaps of the tent, my feet following the source of the screaming. "No, no, no," I kept muttering to myself, pushing myself harder despite protests from my lungs. I felt sick with panic. "This isn't happening. It's just the dream again. It's just the dream. It's just…"

I found her, just like she had been in my dream. She lay shaking on the ground, holding her side as blood flowed between her fingers. Her eyes were glazed over, but she was hyperventilating. "Percy…" she mouthed my name.

I knelt down next to her, pressing my hand against the huge gash in her side. The warmth of her blood on my hand nauseated me, along with the icy sensation of fear coursing through me. I brushed the hair out of her face with my other hand. "Annabeth, it's going to be alright," I breathed.

Annabeth's face was turning gray. "She…she's the traitor, Percy," she managed. "I…I didn't…see her."

I squeezed her hand. "Who, Annabeth?" I pressed. The horrible déjà-vu was about to overwhelm me. _Get me out of this nightmare_, I prayed to whoever was listening.

She opened her mouth, but she choked, her face contorting with pain. Her skin was turning colder and colder. Then, her eyes rolled back, and she went limp in my arms.

"No." I shook her. "Annabeth, don't do this. Please." This wasn't happening. "Please, Annabeth!"

I could almost hear Price's taunting voice in my head: _The one you love shall die. The one you love shall die._ Here she was, slowly growing colder in my arms. My eyes started to sting. "Annabeth, please," I begged, my voice cracking.

I heard footsteps in the snow. When I looked up, Jessica was staring down at us with the most horrified look I've ever seen. Her eyes filled with tears. "What the hell just…happened?" she squeaked.

I glared at her. "She came looking for you!" I yelled. "Did you—"

"I didn't touch her!" she defended, stepping back, growing paler and paler.

Behind me, someone gasped. "Annabeth!"

It was Thalia, Nico, and Grover. Thalia rushed over and knelt down next to us. She put her fingers on Annabeth's neck, checking her pulse. "She's…she's dying." Her voice was shocked, unbelieving. "What happened?" She glared at Jessica.

Jessica blinked, a tear tracing her cheek. She held her hands up in surrender. "I didn't _do_ anything!" she yelled. "Why are you all looking at me like _I _did it?"

Nico put a hand on her shoulder. "We don't think you did," he said calmly. His eyes weren't on Jessica, though. They were on Annabeth. His expression was pained.

Grover tried to pull me to my feet. "Percy, come on—"

"I'm not leaving her." I held tightly onto Annabeth's cold body, burying my face in her curls.

"I'll take care of her," Thalia muttered. "You have to get going. Now."

"But—"

"Get out of here, Percy!" Thalia yelled. "You have somewhere to be. I'll take care of her. I promise. I've been doing it since she was seven. I can do it now."

With a lot of protests, the others managed to pry me from my girlfriend, and hold me back. I wanted her back in my arms. I refused to leave her. "I can't just leave!" I screamed. "Let me go, Grover!" My best friend had an iron grip on my arms, and the fatigue was finally catching up with me. I couldn't fight him off.

"Grover, Nico, Jessica, get him out of here," Thalia ordered. "Finish the quest. We'll try to catch up with you, alright?"

They dragged me away, me not even fighting them…just feeling extremely numb. "She is dying," Nico murmured when he thought I couldn't hear. The next few moments were a blur. But the next thing I remember was walking wearily through the forest along the highway, feeling numb all over. The only image I could see was that of the love of my life bleeding out into my hands.

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><p><strong>Please don't hate me. Please!<strong>

**In other news…Holy geez. I just saw the cover for **_**The House of Hades**_**. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I can't stop freaking out! It's so AMAZING! *spoiler alert* It features Percy and Annabeth in the Underworld, near the Doors of Death. Well…more like, Percy's dragging Annabeth, and now I'm scared that something's going to happen to one or both of them and now, I'm wondering how long it's going to take for October to get here. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO US? I THOUGHT YOU LOVED YOUR FANS! STOP HURTING US!**

**Okay. I'm calm. At least, I'm **_**calmer**_**. I seriously can't wait for that first chapter!**

**So back to THIS story…tell me what you think about it! I hope I can update a lot faster next time. I really hope you like it! I love your reviews, you guys! Seriously.**

**(There are way too many things going on this year…House of Hades, Sea of Monsters, Ender's Game, Catching Fire…too. Many. Fandoms.)**

**Thanks so much, you guys! You're the best!**

**~Mandi2341**


	13. Jessica Falls Off a Cliff

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I'm sorry again for the wait on the update, but I've officially diagnosed myself with writing ADD. It's been really hard for me to focus on one story at a time, simply because I have so many ideas in my mind. I've been developing a new story that's completely original, and it's been at the forefront of my mind. But this one is very important to me, and I'm trying my best to finish it.**

**I'd like to thank TheChronicler137 for beta-ing this chapter and retroactively beta-ing the previous chapters of this story. He's an awesome dude. People, go check out his stories, especially ****_The Demigod Tales_**** and ****_Ship Weeks_****. They're awesome and deserve a lot more attention than they're getting.**

**DISCLAIMER: No, I'm not Riordan. I'm just a FanFiction writer.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 13: Jessica Falls Off a Cliff<p>

_It was the worst nightmare of my life._

_I found myself in the canoe lake, holding onto Annabeth's arm. She was trying to pull me out of the water, like I'd fallen in. It was almost the same vision I'd seen when I was bathing in the River Styx last summer._

_Almost._

_Because in that vision, Annabeth had been laughing at how stupid I was for falling in. Now, the expression on her face was pure panic. "Percy, hold on!" she shouted at me. "Your lifeline's about to break! Hold on!"_

_My lifeline? She must've been talking about what felt like a cable in my back, right at the base of my spine. My anchor to the mortal world. It _did_ feel weaker than it should have…_

_"Percy, your hand's slipping!" she screamed, trying to get a good grip on my arm. I tried to get a better grip on hers, too, but I couldn't. Her hand was too slippery. _Why_ was it so slippery? I glanced up and my stomach turned. Our hands were covered in red, and I caught the smell of iron._

_"Annabeth!" I yelled,_

_"Percy!" she yelled at the same time._

_We lost each other's grip on our hands, and I plunged deeper into the water. But now, the water wasn't just water. I could feel myself drowning, my lungs filling up and burning with acid. I was back in the Styx. I couldn't breathe. I was dying. I'd lost my lifeline._

Grover's voice brought me around: "Percy! Percy, wake up!"

I did. It was dark, and my lungs still felt like they were full of acid. I coughed hard. My mouth tasted like metal. "What's wrong?" I croaked. My friend's expression was…horrified.

"Dude, you were going to die," he whispered. His eyes were wide, and his pupils were slits. Grover made me sit up, and my cough worsened. I wheezed between coughs, choking again. I felt like my lungs were being shredded. The taste of iron filled my mouth.

Grover's expression was seriously freaking me out. When I could breathe again, I asked him, "What do you mean, I was going to die?"

He frowned. "Percy…look at yourself."

_I_ frowned this time, feeling something wet on my chin. I was worried that I'd been drooling in my sleep again, so I went to wipe my face, but my hand came away sticky. I looked down, and it was stained red. I froze. "Holy Poseidon," I whispered. That was…that was _blood_ on my hand. On my shirt. In my mouth. "How?" I croaked, looking up at Grover in fear and panic.

Grover just kept staring at me like he was watching someone getting murdered by Freddie Kruger. "You…you would've choked to death if I hadn't woken you up," he whispered back.

I felt cold air blow in from outside as Nico rushed in, followed closely by Jessica. Nico turned white when he saw me, and my sister turned a shade of pale green. "Oh my gods," she whispered, covering her mouth.

"Your life aura's getting dimmer." Nico looked at me grimly. "We need to get moving."

I nodded, still dazed and shaken. Grover grasped my arms and pulled me to my feet, but I was so off-balance that I almost toppled onto him. He steadied me. "Alright," he muttered. "Time to hit the road again."

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><p>We hitchhiked a few miles before we managed to catch a ride on a pickup truck heading west to Montana. The guy seemed a little suspicious of a bunch of teenagers trying to hitch a ride with him, but he didn't call the cops or anything, so the four of us climbed into his truck, a little more at ease. Except for Grover, who kept sniffing around like he could smell monsters. That was to make us a little uneasy.<p>

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't sleep at all. I was afraid of having another nightmare. And I could not stop coughing to save my life. It was horribly painful and nauseating with all of the blood coming up. I wasn't a doctor, but I was positive that coughing up blood was never, ever a good sign of anything. As much as I kept telling myself that I would be okay, it was pretty difficult to believe every time my mouth filled with the taste of iron.

And then…there was Annabeth. Every time my mind would drift to her, I could only think about her dying in my arms, and a sharp pang of emptiness would spread through my body. The scary part was that when I touched my Achilles spot, that feeling of lightning arcing through the small of my back was weaker. I could feel the curse fading. Somehow they'd found the connection between Annabeth and my weak spot. I couldn't imagine how they'd done it, but they did.

After a few miles on the highway, our truck driver asked us, "Where are you kids headed, anyway?" His voice was deep and rough.

Jessica shrugged. "Just…going to Alaska," she answered, a little too casually. I mentally face-palmed. _Oh, just four teenagers headed to Alaska for no reason._

Grover sniffed, wrinkling his nose.

I frowned. "You don't smell monsters, do you?" I asked in a whisper.

"Why Alaska?" the driver asked.

Jessica glanced at me for help. I shrugged, trying to think of some excuse, but I began to cough again, pulling my shirt over my mouth. It seriously hurt, and I grimaced as my chest and throat throbbed.

"Uh, my brother's really sick," Jessica answered quickly. "And…the only doctor who can save him in in Alaska."

That was…sort of true, I guess. I didn't say anything, just leaned against my window. The cold glass made me shiver.

The driver nodded, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. "That cough sounds pretty nasty, kid," he grunted.

With difficulty, I took a deep breath. "Yeah," I croaked.

"You're not contagious, are you?" he muttered.

I shook my head. "No," I muttered back to him.

The truck driver raised one of his bushy eyebrows. "Well, I have to make a stop in a few miles to fill up on gasoline. Maybe we can get you something for that…cough."

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror again, and there was something I didn't like in his expression. It seemed a little sinister. Grover frowned. "Are you sure we can't just, you know…get to Alaska as soon as possible?" he asked uneasily. "I mean, our friend really needs medical attention."

I involuntarily coughed on cue, my throat burning.

He glanced back at us in the mirror. "Then why haven't you called an ambulance or something?" he asked us gruffly. "Why aren't your parents taking you to this so-called 'doctor'?" He made air-quotes with one hand.

Uh-oh. He was definitely on to us, and I was on guard. I moved my hand closer to my pocket. Nico tensed next to Jessica, who twisted her bracelet around her wrist. Grover and I shared a glance, and we silently agreed that as soon as he stepped out of the car, we'd make a run for it.

Jessica frowned. Even in the dark, she looked pretty pale. I could tell she was still shaken from everything that had been going on with this quest. She hadn't been her usual, talkative, obnoxious self since we left St. Paul. She looked warily at the driver. "You're not going to like, kidnap us, lock us in a closet, and hack our bodies to pieces or anything like that, are you?" she asked. Her voice shook.

I wanted to glare at her. Now that the possibility was spoken out loud, I was afraid that was exactly what he planned on doing to us. I was sure he was a monster. Rule number one for fighting monsters: don't give them ideas.

That evil glint in the truck driver's eyes didn't fade away. In fact, it seemed to grow more malicious. He frowned at Jessica in the mirror. "Where'd you come up with a crazy idea like that, kid?" he asked her.

Jessica swallowed. She shook her head, but kept silent.

"Nah, nothing like that," the driver reassured us. "I'm just going to get some gasoline, and then it's an easy trip down the mountain. So you can calm your nerves, little girl."

I really didn't like how he said that. An easy trip down the mountain. Like it would be easier for him that for us. The four of us stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Eventually the guy pulled into the parking lot of a Best Western. Nico unbuckled his seatbelt before the car even came to a stop. "I thought you said you were getting gas," he said.

"I am," the guy grunted. "But there's a little favor I need of two of you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Something that has to be done at Best Western?" I croaked, immediately falling into another fit of coughing. I could barely catch my breath. I covered my mouth with my hand, and it came away red. My stomach turned; I was never getting over that.

The driver got out of his truck, and it wasn't until I turned to see where he was going that I realized we were at the top of a large hill. I wasn't normally afraid of heights, but there was a story nagging at the back of my mind…something about a guy at the top of a mountain. An easy trip down the mountain. Which probably meant a hard fall for us. Why did that sound so familiar? "Grover…" I murmured. "Who's the guy on the mountain in the old stories? The guy who pushed his victims off a mountain, or something like that?"

Jessica's eyes went wide, and she stared at me in horror. "We're getting pushed off a _mountain_?"

I was trying to think fast about how the myth went when I heard the guy knock on my window. He made a get-out motion, and I reluctantly opened the door, glancing back at my friends. Then I looked back at the truck driver. "What do you need me for?" I asked cautiously.

Instead of answering my question, he pointed at Jessica and beckoned for her to come out, as well. Her eyes widened in panic, but she came with me, gripping my arm.

As soon I as was standing upright, the dizziness caught up to me, and I almost fell over. I glanced back at the truck, where Grover and Nico where trying to get out, but Jessica and I panicked as we heard the driver lock the doors with a _click_. Nico and Grover tugged on the doors from the inside, and I could see Nico fiddling with the lock, but to no avail. How could this guy lock the car from the inside?

Before we even had time to question it, the dude dragged Jessica and me to a dangerous precipice. I felt dizzy just looking down. As a son of Poseidon I had a natural fear of heights, and as much as I tried to fight it down, it kept creeping back up. I thought hard about that story. What was that monster's name?

My sister's face had gone grayish-white, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Percy, what's he going to do to us?" she whispered, barely keeping herself together.

"Nothing, if I can help it," I muttered to reassure her. "How well do you know the Theseus story?"

She just shrugged in exasperation. "Why?"

"Because this guy…I think he's in the Theseus story," I explained.

As if to prove my point, Mr. Truck Driver made the two of us turn around to face him. "You see, kids," he started, "I have a little, ah, grudge against your kind."

Jessica's brow furrowed. "Demigods, you mean?"

The guy shook his head. "Nah, not just any demigods," he corrected. "_Your_ kind of demigod." He pointed at me. "You remind me of a young man, who was about your age when I met him. Same dark shade of hair, and those same bright green eyes…green as the sea."

Under her breath, Jessica muttered, "Did you agitate _all_ the monsters in America once, dude?"

I ignored her, still trying to make my mind think faster. My heart ached from missing Annabeth _so_ much at that moment. She would know who this creep was, and she'd know what to do with him. My eyes stung a little bit in spite of myself, but I concentrated. He meant Theseus; I _knew_ that. Okay…who was this guy in the old stories? I made a mental note to brush up on my mythology, if I ever made it out of here alive.

Jessica was fighting hard to keep her composure. I could tell she was like, three seconds away from totally freaking out. "Who are you?" she demanded. "I think I've heard of you before, but I just want to make sure I'm right."

Mr. Truck Driver raised an eyebrow. "Have you checked out my license plate?" he asked us. "Figured it would be original."

Honestly, I hadn't seen the license plate before getting into the car, but if I had, it would've solved the name problem pretty quickly. My dyslexia scrambled the letters for a few seconds, but I read: SC*IRON.

_Sciron. Of course._ I leaned over to Jessica. "_That's_ his name. Sciron. I knew he was familiar."

Jessica smirked, trying to put on a brave façade. "Wow, putting your name on your license plate is _really_ original," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You think of that yourself?"

"Watch yourself, little girl," the man growled. "Or else you'll be first." He began to morph before our eyes, growing two or three feet, muscles bulging, and veins popping up all over his arms. In the back of my mind I made Note-To-Self Number Two—don't ever watch _The Incredible Hulk_ or _The Avengers_ ever again.

I drew Riptide, but Sciron grabbed my arm painfully hard. "I'd put that away if I were you, Perseus." His voice was dangerously quiet. "Falling on a sword is a pretty uncomfortable way to go. Now I'd just follow simple directions—get down on your knees and polish my shoes for me, would you?"

Jessica opened her mouth to protest, but I put a hand on her shoulder. "Fine," I told the monster.

My sister stared at me. "What the heck are you doing?" she whispered.

"Buying time," I whispered back. It was a lot harder to carry out a plan without Annabeth there. But I was going to have to wing it. Theseus beat this guy by grabbing him by the foot and pulling him over the edge of the cliff. I knew I wouldn't be strong enough for that, especially with this illness draining the life out of me. I gave Jessica a look that said, _Distract him_. Riptide was on the floor next to me. If I could reach it without him looking…

Thankfully, Jessica seemed to understand. "Hey!" she called over Sciron's shoulder. "Nico, Grover, stay in the car!"

The monster gave us the exact reaction we were looking for. They were usually pretty easy to outsmart. Sciron growled. "How did they get out of the car?" he demanded. "That thing is locked up tight!"

To make it more convincing, Jessica got to her feet. "No, you guys! Don't!" She held her hand up in a _Stop_ gesture. "We got this!"

See, if Sciron _had_ been smart, he probably would've noticed that no one could even be heard arguing with Jessica, but she made it convincing enough. While Sciron was turned around muttering to himself about how Hephaestus had given him faulty locks, I gripped Riptide and plunged it into the monster's back.

He screamed in pain, whipping around, lashing out with his arms. I managed to dive out of the way, but Jessica wasn't so lucky. The back of Sciron's hand caught her across the chest, and with a painful grunt she went flying over the edge.

"Jessica!" I didn't stay to watch our truck driver dissolve into dust. Instead I lurched forward and caught her arm before she could tumble to her death. Jessica screamed as her body slammed against the side of the cliff. Her weight nearly dragged me over the edge with her, but my other hand still had my sword in it, and I dug it deep into the ground, holding onto the handle for dear life.

My sister looked up at me with eye filled with fear and tears. "Percy, please don't drop me," she sobbed.

"I'd never do that," I assured her. "Now grip my arm with both of yours, and I'll pull you up."

She obeyed, and I tried to pull her up, but my arm was seriously starting to hurt. I'd need both hands, but my other hand was keeping me from falling. All I could do at the moment was pray that my sword wouldn't loosen from the ground. Then we'd both be dead.

I heard footsteps behind me, and Nico's voice called, "Percy! Where's Jessica?"

Jessica screamed, "Nico!"

"How'd you escape?" I grunted.

Grover's voice answered, "Once the monster died, the locks opened up."

"Great timing. Now, hold onto my legs so I can pull Jessica back up."

They did so, and with as much strength as I could muster, I used both arms to pull my little sister back up. She was shaking, but she threw her arms around me in gratitude. "Percy, you saved my life," she cried.

"I wasn't going to let you fall," I told her.

Suddenly pain flared up in my chest, and I started to cough hard. I doubled over, covering my mouth and tasting blood. Grover put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, man, you should probably rest," he told me. The look in his eyes was beyond worried. It was the horror-movie expression he'd been wearing earlier.

I shook my head. "We can't waste any more time," I protested. "Rest won't help me at this point."

Nico threw an arm around Jessica and looked at me. "I think we could all use a little nap, at the very least," he said. "If we meet any more monsters, which is pretty likely, it won't help to be bone-tired."

Grover frowned. "Considering that we've been traveling with Big Three kids, we haven't met a lot of monsters at all," he pointed out.

"The temperature's changing pretty drastically, getting lower and lower every day," Nico said. "Maybe they're hiding from the cold or something." He glanced up at the Best Western. "That nap's sounding pretty good right now. We'll sleep for an hour or two and head back out."

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><p>Together we managed to scrape together enough money to get a room for the rest of the night. The people at the front desk seemed a little wary about letting a bunch of teenagers get a room, but I left a couple of drachmas on the counter and they didn't question it.<p>

I passed out in one of the beds until Jessica shook me awake. Before my eyes could focus, I was hit with the breakfasty smell of warm bread topped with butter. Usually that would have been a good thing, but my stomach turned and I had to fight down the nausea. "What time is it?" I croaked.

Jessica was sitting on the bed holding two buttered croissants, one half-eaten and the other untouched. "About six-thirty in the morning," she answered quietly, glancing down at the croissants in her hand. "Want one?" she asked, offering me the uneaten one. "Saved it for you."

I shook my head, sitting up too quickly and paying for it with a debilitating headache and another surge of nausea. I held my head in my hand and fell into a coughing fit. It felt like my throat was being sliced up. I covered my mouth with my hand. The warmth of my blood mixed sickeningly with a cold sensation. I grimaced, partly in pain, partly in confusion.

Jessica averted her gaze for a few seconds. "That's so disturbing," she muttered, shivering.

I glared at her. "Like I can help this," I answered, ripping away the blankets and stumbling to the bathroom. Leaning heavily against the sink, I rinsed my hand gently, feeling something hard and cold, like glass shards. My palm was freezing. A few seconds passed before the realization hit me. Those weren't glass shards.

I made my way back to the bedroom, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I was coughing up shards of ice. It only took Jessica one glance at my expression for hers to crumble into the fearful look she'd been wearing for the past couple of days. "What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

I showed her the pieces of ice. "This might explain the blood," I told her. "Every time I cough, this keeps tearing up my lungs and throat."

Jessica flinched at the thought. "That's…horrible," she decided.

A few minutes later, Grover had me open wide and say "Ah," like I was at the doctor. My throat felt raw, and I couldn't stop coughing, but Grover nodded grimly. "The whole back of you mouth looks like you swallowed a bunch of nails," he confirmed.

"Can't imagine what your lungs look like," Jessica muttered.

"We need to get going," I said. I didn't say that my clock was ticking faster and faster, but that's what it felt like.

One of the employees going off duty was nice and offered to drive us to the nearest Amtrak station a couple of hours away in Shelby. She seemed pretty young, maybe in her early twenties. All four of us were cautious about getting into another stranger's car, considering the previous experience hadn't been very pleasant, but Grover assured us that she was one hundred percent mortal. She even gave us a couple hundred bucks, more than enough for the train ride. "Figured you'd need more for like, food or something," she told us. "I hope you get where you're going safely."

I almost wanted to laugh and say, "Not very likely," but I held my tongue and nodded my thanks. "That's really cool of you," I told her.

It was a long train ride, and it gave me a while to try to sleep. Luckily it was dreamless, but when I woke up, I couldn't stop thinking about Annabeth and Thalia. I couldn't help but think the worst—Annabeth was dead, Thalia along with her. It took all of my willpower to push away the images of her bleeding out in my arms.

We managed to get into Vancouver in one piece. As we got off the train and walked to the station, Jessica asked, "What about passports?"

I tried to think of answer for that, but at the door we were stopped by a young woman, with soft dirty-blonde curls, reddish-brown eyes, and a wicked grin. "Well, well, well," she drawled in a British accent. "Looks like I have some naughty children to punish."

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><p><strong>Yep. Cliffhanger. But my good ol' friend JP Lacey gave me the idea for the next chapter, so hopefully I can get to work on that as soon as possible. But I've got a busy school year ahead of me, so I'm not sure how long that will take. You guys are awesome for having so much patience with me. I'm not that person who updates every day, and I hope that doesn't turn you off to my stories.<strong>

**What did you think? I always want to know what you're thinking, how I can improve. It's seriously helpful to me. Leave a review! (By the way, if you didn't notice, I drew inspiration from that ****_wonderful_**** ending of Mark of Athena. #Sarcasm. *sob sob*)**

**Thanks so much, you guys!**

**~Mandi2341**


	14. I Sign My Life Away

**Author's Note: Yay, so finally we have a _real_ update of this story! I know it's been...forever. And seriously, I apologize a million times for the wait. But I tried to make this chapter nice and awesome for you guys, and my good ol' awesome friend JP Lacey has beta-ed for me. She's the absolute best, you guys. I love you, JP!**

**So ta-da! Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, I'm not Riordan. Oops.**

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><p><span>Chapter 14: I Sign My Life Away<span>

I was immediately on guard. My hand went to my pocket and I brought out Riptide. Nico's fingers closed around the hilt of his sword. Jessica shifted her bracelet around her wrist. Grover brought out his pipes.

The British lady shook her head at us. "Tsk, tsk, children," she muttered. "Weapons in the hands of young kids like yourselves. Very naughty."

"What do you want?" Jessica growled. It threw me off-guard to hear her voice sound so...menacing. She definitely wasn't the same happy-go-lucky girl I met the first night of camp. This quest was changing her. And a part of me felt a little guilty for it.

Grover's eyes widened. "Mormo," he muttered. "I...I didn't think she was real."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Everything we didn't think was real turned out to be, I thought to myself. "What's Mormo?" I asked him.

"She's this goddess that supposedly bites you if you're 'naughty,'" Grover answered with air-quotes. "It's just supposed to be a story that ancient Greek mothers used to scare their children into behaving. Kind of like you mortals, and that story about how Santa Claus will bring you coal if you misbehave."

The lady gave my sister a cruel smile, revealing sharp fangs. "You, of all people, should fear us most, little Jessica." She cackled evilly. "You've done some very bad things, haven't you, my dear?"

Jessica responded by aiming an arrow at her head. "I haven't done anything," she answered firmly.

"Being a traitor?" she purred. "Lying to your brother?" She walked closer to my sister. "That girl, Annabeth? Her blood is on your hands, and you know it."

I'd had my fingers curled around the hilt of my sword, but Mormo's words made my skin feel icy, and it had nothing to do with the curse. Jessica _was_ the traitor? When had she lied to me? About what? As I glance at my half-sister, I wondered if she'd lied to me about having nothing to do with Annabeth's...I couldn't even bring myself to _think_ the word _death._

Jessica's face paled, and her arrow dipped toward the ground. Nico ran to her side and protectively held his sword in front of her. "They're lying," he told her. "You're not a traitor, right?"

But she was looking right at me. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I...I didn't do anything to betray you," she called to me.

I wanted to nod and say yeah, that I believed her. But...now, I couldn't even be sure anymore. It had been suspicious when I'd seen her in the forest after Annabeth had been attacked. I wanted to believe her, but Mormo had placed this doubt in my mind - small, but significant enough to make me lower my sword arm just an inch.

The goddess at me with satisfaction. She must have seen the conflict on my face. "Isn't it horrible when you can't trust your own family?" she asked, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "But Percy, you're not off the hook, either." She wagged a finger at me, the way teachers did whenever I did something I wasn't supposed to have done. "Stealing cars, lying to adults, all of the _years_ of lying and stealing you've done on other quests…"

She shook her head like she was disappointed in my behavior.

Without warning, she multiplied, until dozens of her encircled the four of us. One of them flew at me. I slashed with Riptide, but the next thing I knew, my right shoulder was stinging. I clapped my hand over the wound, and my fingers came away sticky and red. I frowned. There shouldn't have even _been _a wound. The curse of Achilles was failing me.

There was a sickening _thud_ as an arrow hit its target, and Jessica appeared in my line of vision, another arrow nocked and ready to fire. Her face looked so sullen, it was hard to tell she was the girl I'd met a week or two ago.

Mormo growled at my sister and bared her teeth.

Jessica returned their sneer. "Leave him alone," she commanded. "I have lots more."

"Threats!" one of the clones hissed. "You spoiled little brat!" She lunged at Jessica and managed to tackle her. She landed hard with a yelp. Nico slashed off the Mormo's head, and it disintegrated into monster dust.

"You're a horrible sister!" Mormo screamed. One of her copies looked at me. "Ask her what she knows about this quest," she hissed. "Ask her about the trap to which she leads you!" Her dark eyes had an excited fire in them, like she couldn't wait to hear all of the juicy secrets Jessica had to tell me. Or maybe she just couldn't wait to see my reaction to them.

I was so sick of the conflicted feelings inside me that in one swift motion with my sword, I shut her up.

Jessica's wild scream made me jump a good thirty feet. She let loose with about five arrows before the remaining Mormo clones managed to bite her arm, right above the elbow. She yelled in pain as the sleeve of her blue jacket turned dark red.

Grover raised his pan pipes to his lips when a familiarly deep voice cut clearly through the cold air: "Excuse me."

I turned around, the scent of the ocean filling my nostrils. A tall man was walking toward us with a hand in his pocket. As he came closer, I made out his dark hair, deep green eyes, and Hawaiian T-shirt and khaki shorts, despite the freezing weather.

Grover straightened. "Lord Poseidon."

Nico bowed respectfully.

Jessica's expression slowly morphed from pained to disbelieving.

"Thank you, Mormo," the god addressed the monster. "You do a wonderful job, really, but I'd like to take over. I think I reserve the right to disciplining my own child."

Jessica's face went red. "What..._discipline_? Your _right_ to -"

I managed to close the distance between us and cover her mouth before she ruined the one chance she was getting. After five years of getting to know Poseidon (which, granted, isn't a lot of time to know your parent), I've learned to look for hints. "Hi, Dad," I greeted.

Just in case I'd forgotten about my little illness, it reminded me with an excruciating throb in my chest. I resisted the urge to cry out, but Jessica noticed my obvious wince. Her green eyes flashed with concern. I gasped in pain, and my throat felt raw, like I'd swallowed steel wool.

Poseidon put a hand on Jessica's shoulder. "I'll only borrow her a minute," he promised, turning to his daughter. "Shall we?"

Without giving her a chance to answer, my father steered Jessica to the edge of the platform.

Mormo sneered, reverting back to one single form. "You got lucky, children," she growled. "And don't forget, Percy," she added turning to me. "You can't trust everyone. Not even your family."

* * *

><p>After half an hour, neither my sister not my father had returned. Grover, Nico and I sat in the snow waiting for them. Stabs of pain shot through my chest every other heartbeat, though I tried my best to ignore it. I wasn't so sure that I'd be able to fight another monster without passing out. But the pain was in the back of my mind. I had way more to think about at the moment.<p>

Jessica, a traitor? Lying to me? Annabeth's blood on her hands? How could all of that be possible? Mormo had to be lying. She wanted me off-guard so she could have a better chance at attacking me, or something. I wanted to think that everyone who'd come on this quest had done so to protect me, but the prophecy had said that someone would betray me. And as much as I hated to admit it, prophecies never lie.

"Why don't you just talk to her when she gets back?" Grover asked, as if reading my thoughts. He was probably reading my emotions, the way satyrs can. "Jessica, I mean," he continued. "Maybe she'll tell you the truth."

I sighed, wincing with another throb of pain. "Yeah," I muttered. "Maybe." I don't like maybes.

Nico glanced over at me with a worried expression. "They were lying," he reassured me.

I didn't answer.

After a few more minutes of silence, I began to worry, thinking maybe one of us should go and check on her...but the last time that happened, well...I tried not to think about. Grover piped up again. "So, what do you think your dad wanted with Jessica?" he asked.

I shrugged, just as mystified as my sister had been when Poseidon had shown up. "I have no idea."

"Well, why don't we ask her?" Nico got to his feet and brushed the snow off of his dark jeans before pointing to the end of the platform where Jessica was walking to meet us. Her jaw was set firmly, and her irises were ringed with red, like she'd been crying.

"Jessica, what happened?" I asked, standing up as well. A wave of vertigo hit me, but I managed not to topple over. "What did Dad want?"

The question seemed to startle her. "Uh…" she started, "um...he just, you know. Told me to, ah, be careful." The last word sounded like a question.

I frowned. "Poseidon, god of the sea, came here just to tell you to be careful?" I repeated skeptically.

Jessica flinched. "Basically," she muttered quietly. "You know, to like, watch my back and to, um, take care of...of you." She bit her lip nervously. Her voice was starting to shake.

I narrowed my eyes. "Take care of me," I repeated.

Jessica nodded. After taking a deep breath, she turned to the others. "Well, let's going," she said, in a forceful cheerful subject-changing voice. "This curse isn't going to wait for us."

* * *

><p>Vancouver was a nice place and all, and maybe it would've been fun to tour if we hadn't had a fast-approaching deadline staring us in the face, but the four of had to get moving before anyone checked for passports and found out we didn't have any. Getting arrested – and worse, deported - wouldn't have been completely ideal at this point.<p>

Jessica fell into step with me. "Can I ask you something personal?"

I gave her a wary glance. "Depends," I admitted.

"It's about Annabeth. Well...mostly," she added.

It felt like a nail was being hammered through my heart, but when I recovered, I managed, "What about her?" It came out harsher than I'd intended, and Jessica winced.

"It's about...about the curse of Achilles," she continued. "And what it has to do with Annabeth."

I tried to swallow down the tightness in my throat. "How do you even know the two are related?" I mutter, as casually as I can manage.

I apparently I hadn't hidden the panic on my face very well, because Jessica took one look at my expression and held my gaze. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Poseidon told me to take care of you. I can't do that if you don't tell me the truth. I _want_ to be able to protect you, Percy. If you'll let me."

I want to be able to, I thought. I should be able to. If my own father trusted her with my life, then I shouldn't have much trouble doing the same, right? Then again, he wasn't putting his own life in this girl's hands. He was betting mine.

"Percy, come on," she pleaded. "Mormo...she's a liar. I won't hurt you. Just give me a chance. Please."

Just the thought of sharing my most personal secret made my spine tingle, and I shivered. "Jessica...this is something no one knows. _No one_. Except for...Annabeth."

A few more steps, and my chest tightened, forcing coughs rom my lungs. I doubled over, tasting the bitterness of blood in my mouth and watching small red dots pepper the snow beneath me. When I lifted my head again, the world spun. I hadn't realized I'd been about to fall until I felt Jessica's hand lock around my arm. "I've got you," she whispered. Nico and Grover glanced back at me with worried looks.

I sucked in a deep breath with difficulty. After Nico and Grover had turned around again, I dropped back even further, forcing Jessica to slow down with me. "If I were to tell you," I muttered under my breath, "you'd have to swear on the Styx not to tell anyone, or use it against me."

An inkling of hope entered her eyes. "I wouldn't tell anyone," she whispered. "I promise, I only want to help you. The only reason I'm on this quest is to protect you, like I said from the get-go. Percy, I…" She sighed, looking at her feet. "I've never had a sibling before. The closest thing I've ever had is Avery, and then she moved away. So even though we stayed pretty close, she was never physically _there_, you know? And besides, I've always wanted a big brother. Why else would I be on a trip that's basically considered a suicide mission?"

She had a point. But still, if anyone else asked me my deepest, darkest secret, would I tell them? I took a deep breath with difficulty. "Swear on the River Styx."  
>Jessica raised her right hand. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone your secret," she promised.<p>

Thunder rumbled in the gray sky. Nico glanced back at the two of us, frowned, and slowly turned around again. Almost as if he could tell I was about to put my life in this girl's hands.

I sighed with a cough. The cold air was painful to breathe, scraping its way down my throat and into my lungs. "Okay, so last summer, we were in the midst of the Second Titan War, and in order to beat Kronos, I had to become invincible. So I bathed in the River Styx, like Achilles, and had to focus on one part of me that would remain mortal. In my case, it was…" I trailed off, and dropped my voice to a whisper. "The small of my back, right here." The gesture was casual enough; I moved my hand behind me and pressed my index and middle fingers to the part of my spine that connected me to my life.

Jessica gently pressed her fingers in the same spot, and I felt a familiar jolt of lightning course through me. "So if you're hit here...that's it? You're…" She made the motion of slicing her neck with her hand. "Done?"

"I try not to think about that," I muttered, "but yes. Which is why it's crucial that this stays between you and me, got it?"

She nodded vigorously.

I stared ahead of me, thinking of Annabeth's limp form in my arms. The memory hurt. "The thing is, when I was in the River Styx…I saw a vision of Annabeth, as well. She told me to remember my lifeline, and it was in my back, right where I showed you. But I don't think that was my only lifeline, if you know what I mean."

Jessica only looked at me expectantly.

I continued, "I think Annabeth is also my lifeline. She grounds me here, too."

I waited for Jessica to make some sarcastic remark about how cheesy that sounded, but the sassy comment never came. She just looked at the ground with her brow furrowed in thought. "So…you and Annabeth are tied together, and she keeps you tethered here," she reasoned.

I nodded, a little awkwardly.

She smirked. "That's so corny."

I laughed as much as my lungs would allow. "And just when I thought you weren't going to say anything," I muttered. But a part of me was a little relieved; she still had a sense of humor. That was hard to keep after a deadly quest like this one. "Now I want you to tell me something," I countered. "What did Poseidon really tell you back there?"

Jessica looked up at me, with a pained expression.

"Well?" I prompted her.

After a few more steps, Jessica shrugged. "He said to be careful, and to protect you," she answered. "Because 'family is important,' or something like that." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms indignantly. "Like I don't already know that," she muttered. "And he has the nerve to tell _me_ that family is important? He ignored me for thirteen years, but _he_ knows everything there is to know about _family_."

I understood the hurt and indignation she was feeling. I felt the same thing, almost every single day. All of that pain was written on her face as she walked, staring at the ground. It was hard to find something to say to comfort her. "Well," I muttered, "I get how you feel. I mean, it took twelve years for me to find out that I even still _had_ a dad, let alone see him face-to-face. But I guess if anyone knows about family...they do. They've been having to deal with each other for the past two thousand years."

Jessica just rolled her eyes again. "Family," she muttered. Then she looked up at me. "Well, one good thing has come out of this whole thing. I got to meet another family member. A _real _one." She gave me a small smile.

I smiled back at her. "I guess you're not so bad yourself," I chuckled, nudging her with my shoulder.

Then a sharp pain coursed through my heart and spread to my fingertips and toes. I cried out, doubling over. My legs grew weak, and I collapsed to my knees. My breath came in short gasps.

"Percy!" Jessica gripped my shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Grover and Nico rushed to my side as well. "Percy!"

I coughed painfully, my mouth filling with the taste of iron. My whole chest felt like it was being eroded away with acid. Grover put a hand on my forehead as if checking for a fever. "This isn't good," he muttered. "Your temperature seems to be going down, now, instead of up. You're freezing cold."

I could feel myself trembling. I wheezed in as much air as I could. When I tried to stand, black spots danced in front of my vision, and my head felt light enough to float away. "Whoa," was all I could manage.

Nico and Jessica gripped my arms tighter to keep me upright. "We need to get to our destination fast," Nico murmured. "But is there a specific place we're supposed to go?"

Jessica's brow creased, but this time she seemed to find her resolve quickly. "I know. Prince William Sound. That's what - " She stopped herself short. "Well...that's what they said back in St. Paul. They said we'd never make it there, but if we wanted a challenge, that's where we'd meet them."

I felt a little better standing on my own, and I straightened myself. "Okay," I said. "How far?"

Nico grimaced. "Far. We're only in Vancouver, and Prince William Sound is near Valdez, Alaska," he explained. "It'd be hours and hours from here, even by plane."

I shuddered. "Ugh, no planes, please."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, wearing an impressed look directed to Nico. "Valdez, Alaska," she mused. "I'm pretty sure they mentioned that, too. How'd you know that?"

Nico blushed and scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Well...shadow-travelling, you know? When I was just learning it, I accidentally ended up in Alaska a couple of times."

In the city we found a small coffee shop to sit inside and warm ourselves up a little. I didn't tell anyone, but I was really starting to feel weaker. Every breath was painful, if I could even get a full breath of air into my lungs. All of my muscles ached like I'd just run two marathons in a row. Grover tried to get me to eat something, but my stomach felt too uneasy to put anything in my mouth.

"So where exactly is Valdez, Alaska?" I asked, picking at the corner of my napkin. "And how are we going to get there?"

Nico stared down at the table, looking conflicted. "Well…" he started reluctantly, "I could try shadow-travelling with all of you."

I'd only shadow-travelled once, and it was pretty cool. But now the idea made me feel a little more nauseous. "Can you even do that with all of us?"

He shrugged. "I've never done with with so many people before. But I can definitely try, in small jumps."

"Then let's do it." I get to my feet. "There's no time to waste."

The four of us had to hold hands with each other, tightly, according to Nico. So we stood in a line with the son of Hades at the front and followed as he sprinted at the shadowy back wall of the coffee shop.

The rush of shadow-travel would've been exhilarating, enjoyable, even, under different circumstances. But it only made me feel like my chest was imploding. And it took two tries to get anywhere near Valdez, Alaska. After the second jump, I couldn't breathe.

The panic of suffocating caught hold of me, and I pressed my hand against my chest, gasping. I could barely even cough, and when I did, dark red spots stained the white snow beneath me. My head spun, and Grover had to keep me upright. I glanced at him, and I noticed that he seemed a little run down, as well. His skin seemed paler than usual, and his breathing was heavier. His hands were cold.

"Grover, you don't look well," I noticed.

My friend shrugged. "I'll be okay," he assured me.

As I stared at him, it suddenly dawned on me that he was getting sick as well. Because of me. "The empathy link," I murmured, slightly horrified. How could I have not noticed this before? "Whatever happens to me…"

Grover shook his head. "Don't even think about that, Percy," he told me firmly. "Nothing is going to happen. To either of us. Okay?"

He held my arm to steady me. I nodded, trying to keep the black spots out of my eyes. I couldn't die. Not with so much riding on this quest. And especially not with the losses we've already suffered. I thought about Annabeth, about her pale face, and the deep gash in her side. Someone was going to pay for that. I took a deep breath and stood straighter, despite the biting ache in my chest.

"So where are we?" I asked Nico. Looking around, it seemed to be nothing but a bunch of forest with a bunch of snow. In the far distance, I could see the lights of a small town. Past it, I could see the sun starting to set over an iced-over bay of some sort.

"Valdez is right over there," Nico panted. He looked paler than usual. Shadow-traveling always took a lot out of him. "I'm sure we could just walk...if you're okay enough for that," he added with a quick glance at me.

I let my breath out slowly. "I'm okay," I assured him. I was running on ninety-percent willpower now, but it had to be enough. "Let's put an end to this once and for all."

Jessica looked at the ground in distress. "Before we do that," she finally interjected, "there's one thing I need to take care of. I'll be right back."

She took off running through the forest before any of us could say anything. After two seconds, I took off after her. My lungs screamed in protest, but I kept moving. The last time we left Jessica on her own, my girlfriend got stabbed looking for her. A pang of guilt, frustration, and irritation went through my heart at the memory and I poured on the speed.

I stopped short when I heard the harsh whisper of a familiar female voice: "You promised you'd help me!"

Jessica's voice responded, "You didn't tell me that I'd be responsible for people's _deaths_, Avery!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Avery? Jessica's friend? My hand went to Riptide, and I proceeded with extreme caution.

"You'll be responsible for even more deaths if we don't take care of this," Avery's voice snapped. "You swore on the Styx. You can't break that oath."

"But I also swore that I wouldn't –"

"You promised _me_ first, remember?" Avery spoke over her friend. Then her voice took on a pleading, desperate tone. "Jess…please. You have to do this for me. I can't trust anyone to do this but you. You have to finish him off."

It was silent for a few seconds. "I…I can't believe you're asking me to do this," Jessica muttered, her voice choking up.

Avery sighed. "Jess, look. You've known Percy for all of a few weeks. We've been like sisters since we were kids. We'd do anything for each other." Her voice faded a little bit. Then she let out a grunt of frustration. "Well, speak of the devil…"

I tried to take a step back, but Avery emerged from the trees, without Jessica, in a white ski jacket, her light blond hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She had a sheath tied around her waist. Her ice-blue eyes glared at me, but I noticed that she had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been sleeping. "You know, it's a good thing you've joined the party, Percy," she sneered sarcastically. "We were just talking about you."

"Quit BS-ing around," I snapped irritably. "What are you doing here? Have you been here the whole time, or what?"

The daughter of Athena simply shrugged.

"Where's Jessica?" I demanded.

She shrugged again, and I wanted to wring her neck. "My turn for questions," she stated casually. "How in Hades's name are you still alive? I'm actually a little impressed. Oh well. You won't be for long, if I have anything to say about it." She drew her icy blade out of its sheath. "Let's have a little rematch, shall we?"

I drew Riptide immediately, and she slashed at me with all of her might. I blocked her first strike and dodged her second, but she came at me like a whirlwind. It took every ounce of my strength just to avoid getting hacked to pieces. She was a great fighter.

She sliced at my face again, and I leaped back to avoid her blade, but my heart pounded painfully. All of my muscles burned with exhaustion, and I coughed harshly, spitting more blood out of my mouth.

"Aww, you don't look too well," Avery murmured. "Poor thing. Let me end it. It'll be quick; I promise." She swung at me again, and in dodging her strike, I tripped over a tree root. Luckily I managed to roll to one side before her sword made contact with my neck, and I swiped her legs from under her.

Avery landed in the snow with a yelp. When she got up, a navy blue object fell to feet. I recognized the famous baseball logo immediately. It was a Yankees cap.

The image of Annabeth lying helplessly in the snow, with dark red pooling all around her, filled my mind. _I didn't see her_, she'd told me. Jessica was the last person to have the baseball cap, but what if she really hadn't been wearing it when the attack happened? And why did Avery have it now? "Where'd you get that?" I asked, my voice dangerously low. "What did you do to Annabeth?"

Avery glanced at the ground and picked up the baseball cap, brushing the snow from it. "You know, your wonderful little sister gave it to me," she answered matter-of-factly. "She's a great friend. But she's been pretty elusive lately. So naturally I had to send Sam and Amy to go get her to talk to me, otherwise how else would I have tracked her down? And you, too?" She gave me an evil grin when she saw my expression fall. "Don't feel too bad, Percy," she smirked. "She did really come on this quest for you."

"So you're the one who attacked Annabeth," I growled. "You stole her Yankees cap and attacked her, invisibly, like a coward."

Avery raised her hand defensively. "I just figured out the connection between you two. I had to get rid of you one way or another, Perseus." Her eyes narrowed. "You're like that pesky little bug that refuses to freaking die. Even _Titans_ couldn't kill you, for gods' sakes."

"So what makes you think that you could?" I challenged her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Right now, I could blow on your face, and you'd fall over."

I didn't want to admit it, but she was right. My sword felt heavy in my hands. My arms were growing weak. A huge part of me wished that I could just collapse to the ground. My lungs were practically begging on their knees for more oxygen. I literally felt like a fish out of water. I coughed again, the taste of blood making my stomach turn.

"But luckily," she added, "I don't have to get my hands dirty. Lucky for you, I'm not going to kill you."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I don't believe you."

"Oh?" The daughter of Athena dropped her weapon, and it fell flat onto the snow. "See? And just for extra measure…" She dug through her jacket and brought out two knives, and let them fall to the ground as well. "No weapons at all."

I just stared at her. It looked like she was surrendering. But she couldn't be. I wasn't _that_ stupid. I kept my weapon raised.

Avery glanced up behind me, and a smile slowly crossed her face. The expression was like a twisted version of gratitude. She nodded slightly, her eyes fixed on wherever she was staring. Then she smirked at me. "You don't learn, do you," she chided, shaking her head. "I did learn one thing from my stupid older sister Annabeth – not to let your opponent catch you off-guard."

"What are you talking about?" I nearly shouted. "You have my full attention!"

"And who said _I_ was your enemy?" she asked me. "The person who stabs you in the back is always the one you'd least expect, isn't it?"

I only had enough time to process her words before a pain exploded into the back of my knee. I felt my knee hit the ground as I gasped in pain. As I glanced behind me, with a heavy heart I remembered the prophecy: _You shall be accompanied by five, betrayed by one_. In my mind I imagined Jessica hiding within the trees, crying.

I registered her turquoise arrow penetrating the back of my knee before another burst of pain, like lightning, arced through my spine, spreading all over my back, through my arms and legs and finally to my fingertips. I screamed as warm blood seeped through my jeans and my shirt, and my face hit the snow.

Avery's face came into my field of vision. "Doesn't that suck?" she asked sympathetically. "Annabeth had that same expression of disbelief on her face, too. Well, now you'll get to be together forever, just like you wanted." She walked away, seeming extremely satisfied.

I couldn't move. My limbs were paralyzed with pain. My mind tried to think coherently, but all I could do was lie there in agony. I heard footsteps running toward me, and Jessica's light blue Converses came into view. She knelt beside me and I could see tears in her eyes. "Percy…" she sobbed. "_Oh mes dieux, qu'est-ce que j'ai fait_? _Je suis désolée, mon frère. S'il te plaît, ne meurs pas…"_ She leaned her head down onto my chest for a few seconds. I had no idea what she was saying. "Percy, please, please."

My vision started to grow dark around the edges, and the darkness was closing in, fast. I didn't even have the energy to feel angry with her.

"Percy?" a female's voice called.

Annabeth's voice. "Percy!" she called again, more firmly.

I manage to catch a glimpse of her blonde hair, and I knew that I had to be near Elysium, before the darkness completely swallowed me.

* * *

><p><strong>Huge cliffhanger. I know. Go on and hate me. But leave me a review telling me what you think!<strong>

**Anyway, what's been going on in my life right now - I'm in college now! *insert cheering here* College is hard...which is part of why I haven't updated in a while. I haven't even been on FF for a while. Though there is this amazing, yet fantastically heartbreaking fic out there called _The Strongest Demigod I've Ever Met_ by vovo611. It's phenomenally written, but it made me cry. Several times. Along those same lines...I read and watched _The Fault in our Stars_ AND religiously watched a whole season of _Chasing Life_. (You may be sensing a theme here...) And a lot of people I know have been affected personally by this awful disease, and so have I - I lost my grandmother when I was 12. But everywhere I turn I feel like someone else I know has been affected. It came out in my writing (an original fic I've been working on), and the other night I actually had a nightmare that very much resembled the _Chasing Life_ finale, before having _seen_ the finale. Which freaked me out.**

**Okay, so I'm kind of ranting right now, but I've just been feeling kind of down for all of those people out there who have been touched, or went through it. My heart goes out to all of you! You guys are the strongest people ever, I couldn't imagine personally going through that. You're always in my prayers.**

**But anyway, other than all of that, I've been pretty awesome. Trying to keep writing whenever I can, but bear with me! My workload just got a lot harder. I'll try to write for quality instead of speed, is that okay? (Though if anyone feels like it's taking a ridiculously long time to update, PM me, like a polite nudge on the shoulder, okay? Heehee.)**

**Thanks so much for the love and especially for the patience, guys! I love you all!**

**~Mandi**


	15. Author's Note Again

**Author's Note:** Hello, everyone! Okay, so I know that I updated this fic about a month ago, and I know that you all are totally ready for another chapter! So am I, trust me. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and I'm trying to organize them all so I can give you the best fanfic I possibly can. However, a lot of you have given me that gentle nudge on the shoulder, and I totally appreciate it! Thank you, guys, very much! But there are some of you that I'd really love to address more directly if you have a question, but you either don't sign in, or don't have accounts, so I write author's notes (which I'm not a huge fan of, but I know sometimes necessary).

As for this fanfic, I haven't forgotten about it, I promise! My lack of updates isn't because I'm discarding this story, because it's my first PJO fanfic, and I've been working on it since I finished _The Last Olympian_ when I was thirteen. I'm eighteen, now, and this fic hasn't left my mind, even after a period of time when I didn't really like Percy Jackson. But my passion for this story is still here, and I think it's the only thing that is going to keep me from crying after _Blood of Olympus _(who else is dying of excitement?). Literally, this series has consumed my life for the past five years._  
><em>

But I do have to tell you - I'm a college freshman right now, and those of you reading this fic who are in college as well, understand how hard the transition is. About 80% of my focus is on school right now. Those of you who aren't in college, this is a really crazy time, especially now, because I have a midterm and papers due in like, every single class, and I'm really sorry, but life is really busy right now. So, _Cold as Ice_ isn't getting as much of my attention as I would like, and therefore isn't getting as much attention as _you_ all would like, either. But I promise, the story will get updated. I don't want to rush and give you a crappy unedited, poorly thought-out chapter, and I'm pretty sure you'd rather have a good chapter that you had to wait for than a bad chapter every week.

I seriously appreciate the love that all of you have for this story, and it makes me really happy to know that so many of you still love this story, despite the slow updates. Just give me a chance to get my act together, and I promise I'll give you something to look forward. All good things to those who wait, my friends.

Thanks for the patience and love, everyone! I love you all to pieces!

~Mandi


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